2P HetaOni
by Ve Kuraresa Cupcakes
Summary: So, it's a 2P HetaOni fic! Yay! The 2P nations are going to go through the "fears" of fighting the Steves! So hope you like it!
1. Ch I:The Mansion Where None Should Enter

**A/N: So, since we've all been talking about HetaOni in Letters and Cupcakes, I decided to make a 2P HetaOni fic! Enjoy!**

* * *

It was another normal meeting in the 2P world: England was trying to kill Spain, Japan was trying to kill England, and America was trying to kill Japan. So yeah, typical meeting. That is, until all four of the countries trying to kill each other were pinned to the wall with a knife and actually stopped in their normal rampage.

"Dude, what's the big idea?" shouted America, glaring at the person who had thrown the knives.

"I found something," he said, smirking a little. "You know that abandoned mansion down the road? Well, there are some very interesting rumors about it."

"Like what?" asked Japan.

"Like people going in and never coming out again."

"Oh, that sounds interesting!" said England. "We should go there!"

"Yeah, that's what I was getting at. So who wants to come?"

Since only the main powers were the only ones who usually showed up, they all agreed to come.

"Okay, so we can split up into our normal groups and go there tonight. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded their heads, anxious for that night.

… That night …

"We're here," said Italy.

"This place is kinda creepy," said Germany, looking up at the mansion.

"Tch, we'll be fine," said Japan, rolling his eyes at his companion.

Prussia just glanced at the mansion and said, "It looks depressing."

"Everything looks depressing to you, bruder," said Germany.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go in," said Japan, walking forward and opening the doors. upon entering, the four countries looked around.

"It's really clean," muttered Germany.

"Yes, almost too clean. I thought it was abandoned," said Japan, looking at Italy.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. Maybe I was mistaken."

"Meh, let's look around," said Japan.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound. Germany was the only one to jump in surprise. Italy and Japan just glanced up, curious, while Prussia just continued to look at the ground.

"I'm going to go see what that was," said Japan.

"Kay. Don't get killed," said Italy encouragingly…sort of.

Japan walked off in the direction of the sound, soon entering a kitchen-like room. He looked around a little bit before he spotted a broken plate.

"So that's what it was. Hmm, it could be useful," he said while putting a piece of it in his pocket. He walked back out of the room and back into the main entryway of the house.

"Where'd they all go?" he wondered out loud as he looked around. "Tch, they must have just decided to leave me here."

He started to look for them, walking straight ahead. He tried the few doors that were situated along the walls, but all of them were locked. When he reached a hallway with a door at the end, he saw something enter the door. He stood still and waited for it to enter before walking up to the door and trying the handle.

"That thing must have locked it," he said, walking away from the door and back to the entryway. "Maybe they're upstairs."

He walked up the stairs and looked around before turning left and trying the two doors there. He was surprised when one of them opened. As he entered the room, he immediately noticed something familiar on a bed in the corner.

"What? This looks like Germany's pistol. That coward's probably hiding in here."

He looked under the bed and in every corner of the room, but didn't find Germany. He left the room and turned left, trying the doors on the opposite side of the stairs. One of the doors there opened also.

"That's odd," said Japan, looking at the curtain in the back corner. "But a perfect hiding place."

Japan walked over to the curtain and pushed it open, finding Germany sitting there, shaking.

"Hey! Pull yourself together!" Japan shouted.

Germany just continued to shake, seemingly not noticing him.

"Tch," Japan said, annoyed at his companion's cowardliness. "I guess I'll have to help him."

He left the room and went back downstairs, looking for water. He found a bathroom and entered it, finding a sink.

"Good, it works," he said, not wanting to look any more than he had to. He filled a glass with the water and brought it back upstairs to Germany. He handed him the water, and Germany shakily gulped it down.

"Th-Thanks," Germany stuttered, still shaking a little. "But are you sure that was water?"

"No," Japan said bluntly.

"Oh, okay," said Germany, now a little more scared.

"Where'd the others go?" asked Japan.

"U-Umm, I'm not sure. I think they might have run up the stairs too, but I was too freaked out to notice."

"Tch. I'll have to go look for them, then," said Japan, starting to walk out.

"W-Wait! I found this key while I was running," said Germany, handing Japan a key.

"Oh, thanks," said Japan, snatching the key from Germany's hand. He then walked out and shut the door behind him, leaving Germany to calm down a little more. He decided to start on the first floor first and work his way up. He turned right after getting downstairs and tried all the doors over there. When none of those worked, he tried the other side of the stairs. When he inserted the key into the first door there, he twisted the knob and it opened. He entered the room but then stopped dead when he saw something moving in the room. When he didn't see the thing anymore, he entered the room and looked around. He walked up to one of the many bookshelves in the room and looked at the books.

"Hmm, some of these look interesting. Too bad I don't have enough time to look at them."

He walked over to a table that had an assortment of books and maps on it.

"Wait!" he said, picking up something on the table. "This is an onigiri! What would something like this be doing here?"

Almost immediately after finding the onigiri, the thing appeared. Japan quickly pocketed the onigiri before facing the thing. It ran up to him and Japan unsheathed his sword, jumping out of reach of the thing and also wounding it in the process. It turned back to him and attacked again, and this time it hit Japan a little. He grimaced a little before slashing at it and jumping out of the way. Suddenly, it said, "YoU wOn'T eScApE!" in a strange voice and attacked Japan with some sort of strange power. Japan barely missed the attack, jumping out of the way and tumbling off to the side. Japan then used his own special attack and hit the monster, leaving it stumbling. Japan then ran over to the door in an attempt to get out.

"It's locked!" he exclaimed. He quickly looked around the room and found the key in the back corner, strangely enough. The thing was limping after him as he picked the key up and ran back to the door, unlocking it and leaving the room.

* * *

**A/N: Tada! So, how'd ya like it? Tell me in a review please!**


	2. Chapter II: Finding Friends

After Japan had exited the room, he decided to look back in the room to see if he could find anything else that was of use. After checking to make sure the thing was gone, he re-entered the room and immediately saw a key lying on the floor. He picked it up and looked it over. He saw some small writing on it and read it, eventually making out 'fourth floor'.

"Okay, so the fourth floor. I guess I'll go up there, then."

Japan exited the room, again, and walked up the stairs until he reached the fourth floor. He tried the first door, but the key didn't work, so he went to the second door and found that the key worked. He opened the door and looked around the room, seeing another bookshelf in the corner.

"Maybe that one has some interesting books, too," he mused to himself. But as he walked up to it, he heard a noise and quickly drew his sword. Cautiously, he walked up to the shelf and moved it, pointing the tip of his sword at the thing making the noise. It started to make insistent squeaking noises.

"Oh, it's just a mochi," Japan said, sheathing his sword. "Now, to get you out."

Japan tugged on the mochi, attempting to pull it out of the wall. But no matter how hard he tried, it was still stuck.

"How is that possible?" Japan wondered, thinking about maybe using his sword to get it out. But the mochi seemed to sense his thoughts and started to frantically squeak. "Ugh, I can't think with all your annoying squeaking!" Japan shouted at the mochi. It cowered back farther into the corner and stopped squeaking.

"There, that's better. Maybe I could ask Germany to help."

So Japan left the room and went back down to the room Germany was in. Upon entering, he saw that the curtain in the back had been replaced by a metal door.

"What in the world?" Japan said before walking up to the door. "Hey, coward, open up! I have something to ask you!"

"Oh, Japan! What is it?"

"Could you help me get a mochi out of the wall?"

"Umm, sure I guess. But, umm, I need my pistol. Could you get it for me?"

"Lucky for you, I found it earlier. Here you go."

"Oh, umm, thanks. Hey! I'm kind of hungry too. Could you find me something to eat?"

"Really?! Where do you think I'm gonna find something to eat here!"

"I'll only help you if you get me something to eat."

There was a long pause before Japan finally said, "Fine, coward."

He left the room in a huff and decided to look downstairs for the food. He thought he heard a noise off to the right of the stairs, so he headed that way. He saw that the door where the thing had gone in was open.

"Well, this is interesting," he said, smirking as he walked up to the door and pulled out his sword. But when he walked in, it was pitch black.

"What? Where's the light switch?" he mumbled aloud, searching the walls for the light switch. When he found it, he switched the light on and immediately saw one of the monsters.

"Oh crap," he said before the monster walked forward and attacked him. Luckily, Japan had already unsheathed his sword, so he quickly slashed at the thing and jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, the room they were fighting in was extremely small and Japan nearly tripped over a small stool in the corner. He quickly regained his balance, though, and continued fighting. The thing did one of its special attacks again and this time hit Japan. He stumbled back and fell against the wall, making the stool slip and hit the thing's legs.

"Not the most graceful move," Japan muttered. He jumped up as the thing ran forward to try to attack him again. Japan slashed its side, and it stumbled away, suddenly turning off the lights.

"Crap!" Japan exclaimed, stumbling through the dark and reaching for the light switch, sword at the ready. But when he turned the light on, the thing was gone. Japan let out a sigh of relief and quickly sheathed his sword. He looked around the small room and found a key, which he quickly pocketed before leaving the bathroom and walking into another room near it, where he found a toilet full of food. "That's just messed up," he said, looking down at the food. "But it'll work for Germany."

He then grabbed some of the food and stuffed it into his pockets before leaving the strange room. He walked back up the stairs and decided to see what room the key was for.

"Bedroom key," he read on the key. "Okay, I guess I'll have to try this side of the stairs now."

He walked to the other side of the stairs and turned right, checking the first door he saw. The key fit, so he entered the room and decided to lock the door behind him, just to be safe. After searching around the room for a few moments, he located Prussia cowering under one of the beds, shaking.

"Tch, both of them are such cowards," he said before roughly dragging Prussia out from under the bed. "Pull yourself together, Prussia!"

Prussia looked at Japan and said, "Oh, it's you! I thought maybe you were that…thing…"

Japan rolled his eyes. "Of course it's me, you idiot. Who else would it be? And besides, those things can't say much else than 'You won't escape' in a weird voice."

"Y-You m-met one of th-them?"

"Yes, I did. It's almost impossible not to."

"Hey, did you see the other two?"

"Yeah, Germany's cowering in another room, and I have no clue where that psycho Italy is."

"Oh, well, it's good you find mein bruder," Prussia said before pausing. "Hey, did you hear that?"

"Hear what? I don't hear any-"Japan was abruptly cut off as the doorknob started to rattle. Prussia jumped into Japan's arms, since this was one of the rare times he actually had any emotions. Eventually, the doorknob's rattling stopped, and Japan put Prussia down before drawing his sword.

"D-Do you th-think it's g-gone?" Prussia asked in a shaky voice.

"Probably. I'm going to check. Come on."

Prussia got up and followed Japan to the door. Japan slowly opened it and wasn't surprised to see the monster there.

"AHH!" Prussia screamed before running past it.

"Hey, wait up, you idiotic coward!" Japan shouted before following. But the monster was too fast and soon attacked Japan. "Again!" He shouted as he slashed at the monster. He dodged one of its special power attacks and slashed at its legs, slightly immobilizing it. He then left it, running to catch up with Prussia, who had somehow found where Germany was and was waiting for Japan in the corner of the room.

"Ugh, you coward!" Japan shouted. "Oi, Germany, I found your idiot of a brother!"

"Oh, is he okay?" asked Germany.

"Tch, as okay as he'll ever be. Oh yeah, your food. Here you go." Japan the handed him the onigiri he had found in the strange toilet and Germany came out and ate it.

"Thanks," he said after finishing. "We should go find Italy now."

"Yeah, I guess," Japan said reluctantly.

The three of them left the room and went upstairs to where the mochi was.

"Might as well get this over with," said Japan. "Go on, try to get it out already!"

Germany walked forward and started to tug at the mochi in the wall. After about a minute of this, he gave up.

"It won't budge," he said. "Maybe if I had some tools?"

Japan rolled his eyes. "Ugh, do I have to do everything around here?"

But nevertheless, he walked out of the room to see if he could find some tools.

* * *

**A/N: So, yeah, I'm doing this how the chapters are in the game. I'm having lots of fun with this one! Hope you liked it! **


	3. Chapter III: The Allies

As Japan walked out of the room, he tried to think of where to look for tools. He saw that there was a door across the hall and decided to try that one. When he opened it, he saw that there were three random crates on a rug near the wall. Also on the rug were some stools and a table. He walked over to the crates and looked behind them all. He soon found a piece of paper with green and blue rectangles on it. He flipped it over, looking for some sort of secret hidden message, but after finding none, he just put it in his pocket and moved on to the strange lever on the wall. There was a piece of paper tacked onto the wall next to it.

"Up is Heaven, Middle is Earth, Down is Hell," read Japan. "Hmm, that's interesting…"

So he pulled the lever to the middle first. After waiting for a few moments, he muttered, "Nothing happened." So he then pulled the lever down. There was a sudden noise behind him, and when Japan turned around, he saw that there was a hole in the floor.

"Well, that's strange," he said while walking over to it. "I wonder what's down there?" He started to push on the loose board, seeing if it would budge. When it didn't, he put his full weight on it and suddenly fell through the floor. When he landed, he saw that he was in a large room with a piano and bookshelves in it. He walked over to the piano, curious if it worked. He pressed a few keys and was soon playing a song. When he had finished, he said, "This is very strange. The piano is perfectly in tune even though it probably hasn't been played in years. Maybe those strange monsters can play the piano…?"

He quickly moved on from that room and went to the room across the hall after closing the door to the piano room. When he entered, all he could see was bookshelves. But after walking around for a while, he was nearly stabbed with a knife. If it hadn't been for his ninja-like reflexes, he would've been dead.

"Oh, kon'nichiwa Itaria. I was wondering where you were. Why have you been hiding in here?"

"I wasn't hiding," said Italy, a little annoyed. "I was exploring, looking for a way out of here."

"So you were looking in the library?"

"Just shut up, will you?!" said Italy, holding the knife closer to Japan. "I wanted to see if there was any useful information in here about this mansion. Oh yeah, and I made pasta. Want some?"

"Umm, I think I'll pass," said Japan, pushing the plate of pasta away from his face. "Oh yeah, Germany and that weakling Prussia need some help with a mochi stuck in the wall upstairs."

Italy sighed before saying, "Fine, I'll go help those debole idioti."

So the two of them left the library and went upstairs to help Germany and Prussia with the mochi. But when they opened the door, they saw one of the monsters in the corner of the room, fighting Germany and Prussia.

"Ehi, idioti! What are you deboli doing fighting that thing! You know you won't be able to defeat it!"

"Yes, but we had to do something. We couldn't just let it kill us," said Germany.

Italy just rolled his eyes and said, "I'm going to help you, even though I don't want to…"

"J-Ja, thank you Italien," said Germany, thankful for Italy's help.

The four countries then started to fight the monster. Japan slashed at it with his katana first, and then Italy threw a bunch of knives at it. This continued on with Germany and Prussia hitting the monster every once in a while. Eventually, the monster tired and just disappeared. The four nations stood tensed for a few moments before they knew for sure that the monster was gone. Once they did, everyone walked to the middle of the room.

"Tch, idioti inutile…" Italy muttered under his breath.

"At least we tried…" Germany also muttered.

Italy looks at him, annoyed. "You tried?" he said sarcastically. "Sure didn't seem like you did…"

"Oi, baka, we should probably find a safe spot before we're attacked again," said Japan, annoyed by their behavior.

"J-Ja, you're right. Let's go, jeder."

So the four of them left the room, deciding to go across the hall first. When they entered, Japan walked over to the lever, deciding to see if it would do anything else. He pulled it to the middle first, and immediately a key fell from the ceiling. Italy walked over to it and picked it up, inspecting it.

"It looks like it's the key to the second floor," he said, turning it over in his hands.

"Okay, so let's look there first," said Japan, walking out of the room behind Italy. They descended to the second floor and started to check the doors. After a while, they walked into a room that had a bunch of dressers in it. They started to check the drawers and soon found a first aid kit. They patched up the small cuts they had before searching in the room some more.

"Hey, I found a matchbox," said Italy, holding up said box.

"Good job, Itaria," said Japan before they left the room, taking the two boxes with them.

They searched the other rooms and eventually ended up in a room with a large table and a fireplace. Japan firmly locked the door before they started to discuss their plans.

"I don't think we're completely safe in here, but it'll have to do for now," said Japan.

"Yeah, but it'll do for now… I'm tired…" said Prussia before closing his eyes.

"Oi, don't fall asleep now bruder!" said Germany, shaking his brother awake again.

"Meh, fine…" Prussia mumbles, still half asleep. "But I am a little cold…"

"Yeah, me too…" says Germany.

"It's probably just this house. It seems pretty old," said Japan.

"Hey, we do have matches and firewood. We could start a fire," said Italy, then walking over to the fireplace and lighting it.

"Thas betta…" mumbled Prussia, falling asleep. But a knife to the face quickly woke him up again, although he looked annoyed.

"Now then, let's get talking. Why did you baka run away and leave me alone?" asked Japan, glaring at them all.

"That thing was scary, and we didn't want to stick around to find out what it would do to us, so we ran," said Germany.

Japan just rolled his eyes before asking Italy, "And why did you run away?"

"Tch, that thing was emanating extreme strength, one I knew I shouldn't mess with. Even I was uncertain about fighting him at first. It was just so…foreign and strange to me…so I let my instincts take over and ran."

Japan was surprised by Italy's answer, and yet he knew that he was telling the truth. The first one he had fought was exactly like Italy had described it. He had wanted to run too, but knew that it was futile.

"But when I ran, it followed me… It was just so…strange…" said Italy, a puzzled look on his face.

Germany and Prussia looked confused by Italy's behavior also. They had never seen Italy actually act scared before.

"Well, we're all safe here now, so we don't have to worry about any strange monsters coming in and attacking us, alright?"

"…Shut up… It's not like you did anything after we ran…"

"But I did… I can show you later."

Italy just rolled his eyes and ignored him.

"So, let's just move on from that and discuss what we should do," said Japan, not wanting a fight to break out between them.

"Ja, alright. So…has anyone found a way out yet?" asked Germany.

"Nein, not yet bruder," said Prussia.

"Iie, all the windows and doors have been locked."

"I haven't found any either."

"Hey, why don't we just make our own exit?" stated Prussia.

The others pondered this.

"Good idea, idiota. It might actually work. But first, let's get some sleep," said Italy.

"Hai, that's a good idea. But first, I think we should choose someone to stand guard with a game of Janken," said Japan.

"Umm…what's Janken?" asked Prussia.

"Janken is like Rock-Paper-Scissors."

"Oh, okay."

After the game of Janken, Prussia was the one keeping watch.

"Why did they even let me stand guard…? I mean, they know I'm the laziest… Oh well, I guess I'll just have to focus on staying awake right now."

Prussia sat there for a few moments, dozing off a little before he felt a sudden chill go down his spine. Knowing from previous experience that that meant danger, he was soon wide awake. Just then, the door rattled. Despite being prepared, he started freaking out a little.

"P-Perhaps I should wake up the others…?" he wondered as the banging continued. "No, I'm going to be strong! And to prove that I'm strong, I'll fight this thing by myself."

Prussia then walked over to the door and opened it, sort of prepared for what was on the other side.

…

_You can not easily set foot into that "mysterious mansion" in your town.  
Because if you anger its former occupant, you will not get away lightly…  
Especially when there are no people there…_

…

As the Allies walked up to the mansion, they could tell it was pretty strange, and haunted too. They stopped at the front door, taking in the full extent of the mansion.

"So, it's really here…" stated China, gripping his butcher knife tighter.

"I didn't think it actually existed!" said England, looking at the mansion with a slightly sadistic smile on his face.

"Hmm…it has a kinda desolate feel…" said France.

"Yeah, but I don't really think it's that interesting," said Canada, rolling his eyes at the others' fascination with the mansion.

"Tch, what, are you scared?" asked America, hefting his bat.

Canada just rolled his eyes again. "No, I'm not, imbecile."

America turned to his brother. "Umm, what did you just say?"

"Nothing…" said Canada, turning to face his brother.

"I think we should get along today," said Russia.

The two nations immediately turned to face the mansion again.

"Perhaps we should just take a quick look inside," said Russia, eyes boring into the backs of everyone's heads.

"Y-Yes, that sounds like a splendid idea!" said England.

"Yeah, but I don't want to stay too long," said China, quickly glancing at Russia before turning back to the mansion.

"So, shall we go in?" France said, puffing on his cigarette.

… Inside …

"The rumors say that there are ghosts here, and that that is why no one comes near this place," said Russia, looking at his two companions.

"Yeah, it is kinda spooky…" said Canada.

"Seriously bro, if you're scared just go. We don't need a scaredy-cat holding us back," said America.

"I'm not scared, just stating the facts," said Canada.

"Whatever," muttered America. "Hey, by the way, where did everyone else go?"

"They said that they would leave the second floor to us and went straight upstairs," said Russia, knowing exactly why America asked that question.

"Oh, well, okay…" said America before something suddenly attacked him.

… Upstairs …

"It's pretty clean," stated France. "It reminds me of something my counterpart would like."

"It is quite nice! But hey, can we go now?" said England.

"What, are ya scared, psycho?" asked France.

"No! Just a little apprehensive…" said England, looking around.

"Tch, it's not like this place is haunted or anything. Seriously, I can't believe you would be scared of something like this. You can go back and start baking more cupcakes if you really want," said China before walking away.

"Hey, where are you going?" asked France.

"This room just smells a little funny, so I'm going to check it out."

"Hey, I know that smell! Are you sure you're going to be alright? I'm still feeling apprehensive about this place!" shouted England.

"Oh shut up, will you? I'll be just fine," said China, walking into the room.

* * *

**A/N: Yay, done with Chapter 3! XD It's so long, you think it's never going to end! So, anyway, hope you liked it!**


	4. Chapter IV: Gunshots

"This place really is a little unsettling, though," said France, standing near the strange smelling room.

England just stood there, deep in thought.

"Hey, is there something wrong? You're not usually this quiet…" asked France.

"Oh no, everything's fine! I'm just thinking!" replied England.

"Thinking about what?" asked China.

"Oh, just…things! You know…it is quite unsettling, as France said earlier…" said England. "I haven't been bothered by anything for a while now…" he muttered, looking around.

"You mean that bunny you always talk about isn't here? Maybe we should stay out then…" said France.

"Fine then. I'll leave you two to search down here while I go upstairs to look."

"Can I come with you? I don't really like this floor!" said England.

"You're leaving me all alone?" France asked, a little mad. "Fine then. But when you're done looking around, let's meet up here again."

"Okay, okay. Let's go psycho," said China.

"Hey! I thought I told you not to call me psycho!" said England.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So, how about we meet up again in thirty minutes," said China.

"Right, that sounds good," said France, walking away.

"Ai, where are you going?" China called.

"I'm saving the best for last," said France, continuing to walk.

"Okay, good idea!" said England. "So, let's go! Otherwise my little Alfie might get mad at me for being so slow, and you know what happens when he gets mad~!"

"Yes, of course…" said China, inwardly shuddering. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine! Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason," said China as he started walking towards the stairs.

"Wait up!" shouted England, quickly following. When they reached the top of the stairs, they looked in the two rooms on the third floor, and after finding nothing but a piano in one room and lots of books in the other, they headed to the fourth floor. The first room they searched had nothing of too much importance in it, so the two moved on to the next room. Immediately after walking in, England walked over to the chair.

"This looks like a chair my counterpart told me about!" he said, looking it over.

"Yes, and it looks cursed too," said China, looking at it from a distance.

"Yes, yes, I believe it is!" said England.

"Then why don't you walk away from it?"

"Oh, it wouldn't be able to curse me~!"

"…How did I not know that…"

"So, we've come all the way to the top! And the air smells just like that room down on the second floor!"

"And so is the unsettling feeling from that floor. Let's just hurry up and get out of here."

"Oh, are you scared~?"

"Tch, no. I was doing something before you all dragged me into this haunted mansion, and I really don't want to leave it alone for too much longer."

"Okay then! I'll just-"

Suddenly, there were several loud bangs from downstairs.

"Well, I haven't heard that sound in a while!" said England.

"Wasn't that America's pistol?" China asked.

"Yes, it was! This means something very bad must have happened! He usually only uses his bat!"

"…Are you sure it wasn't just Russia…?"

"Yes, that could be…" said England, a little bit worried now.

"But maybe it wasn't Russia…"

"You're really worrying me!" said England. "Could you please stop!"

"Psh, whatever psycho… We should probably head back downstairs and make sure the others are okay."

"Right, of course! Let's go!"

They quickly headed downstairs to the second floor and were waiting for France. After fifteen minutes, they were starting to get a little impatient.

"Where do you think he is?" England asked, looking down the halls.

"I don't know… It really shouldn't take him too long to see the second floor. Perhaps he found something that interested him?"

"Yes, or perhaps he went downstairs when he heard the gunshots!"

"Yeah, he really does get bored easily, doesn't he? I'll look around on this floor, just in case."

China walked away from England and headed to the room that he knew France would most likely be in: the one with the bad smell. When he entered, he didn't see France, but he did see burnt firewood in the fireplace.

"So this is the source of the bad smell? Interesting…wait, what's this?"

China looked closer and saw that he was correct.

"These are Japan's clothes…and they're covered in blood, too. Plus there are remains of other things too. I wonder what happened…"

China then left the room, unable to find France. He then walked back to England to report what he had found.

"Did you find him?" England asked as China walked up.

China didn't answer, still thinking about what he had seen.

"What's wrong? Are you actually scared?"

"No, I already told you I'm not!"

"Hey, what are you holding?" England asked, inspecting the things in China's hands.

"It's Japan's clothes. I found them in a fireplace, and they're half-burnt."

"Hey, that's blood! And what do you mean they're Japan's clothes?"

"Yeah…this place must be really dangerous if even Japan got hurt. I'll look for him and then we can go home."

"Hey, calm down, okay! Why would Japan be here in the first place? We only came here because of America's story! And you know how he always messes with us! This is probably just one of his awful jokes!"

"Yes, and that makes this even stranger…"

"Yes, but you said you talked to Japan about it, and he said that if it was America's idea, he would stay as far away as possible from this mansion! And then when we arrived at the mansion, you sent him a message saying, "We're here, and not dead yet," and he replied, "Watch your back." And he sent that from the meeting place!"

"Oh, right…"

"Just think about it, he's probably still in the meeting place right now! There's no way he could have gotten here before us!"

"Then how do you explain these? They wouldn't be in the fireplace if Japan wasn't here."

"Well, yes, that's true… Why are you suddenly so worried about Japan?"

"I'm not worried, just curious. And besides, France is missing, America used his gun, and now I found Japan's clothes. I say we get out of here before we're really killed."

"Yes, alright! Let's go talk to the others then and see if we can find out anything else!"

So the two of them headed downstairs, looking for the others. They heard a loud noise and headed towards the kitchen-ish room. Upon entering, they saw a big gray monster.

"What's that?!" England asked, surprised.

"Yes, what is that monster?" China asked, equally surprised.

"Well, you two sure took your time," said Russia. "As you can see, we're being attacked right now."

"R-Right, w-we're v-v-very s-sorry!" stuttered England.

"You had better run," said Canada.

Suddenly, the monster attacked Canada. Russia immediately slashed at it.

"R-Russia!" stuttered Canada.

"Well, that hurt," said Russia, looking at his new wound. "It looks like I'll need a new weapon."

All the nations in the room took a step away from Russia, not wanting to be his next weapon. Russia then slashed at it again, and it stumbled back a little.

"W-Wait, since when did you have a sword?" asked China, stepping back even more.

"Well, I stole it from Japan, of course. How else was I going to get a weapon? And actually this is a sword cane."

Russia then slashed at the monster even more, making it stumble back against the wall.

"G-Good job, R-Russia," said China, now against the wall along with the others.

"But it didn't even do anything," muttered Canada.

Russia glared at the Canadian, making him cringe and wish he hadn't said anything.

"W-We should help him," said England.

"R-Right, of course," said China.

All four of them tried their hardest, but since it was their first time fighting the monster, they were all defeated.

"O-Ow…" said Canada, holding his wounds.

"Well, that didn't work," said Russia, looking up at the monster confusedly, ignoring his wounds.

"Hey, England, you barely did anything during that fight," shouted China.

"Oh, sorry! You know how I don't like getting my hands dirty!"

China just rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't have much strength left."

Hearing that, the monster went over to attack the two of them.

"Ah, wait a s-"

Suddenly, Japan came out of nowhere and slashed at the monster.

"Tch, weaklings…" he said while glancing at everyone except for Russia.

"Wait, Japan?!" England asked, extremely surprised.

"Yeah. Now then, talk later, fight now," said Japan, trying to get on with the fight before the monster took him by surprise.

"So you did come here?" China asked, completely ignoring what Japan had just said.

"Yes, I did!" Japan shouted. "Now let me fight this thing!"

China hurriedly shut up and let Japan fight.

"Are you sure you can do it by yourself?" Russia asked.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Hmm, you're all hurt pretty badly… Oh well, you'll heal. Now, on with the fight!"

Japan then quickly defeated the monster with his katana, making it disappear.

"Hey, did you fight that monster before?" England asked Japan.

"Well, yeah, but you've fought it before too. You got here before us after all."

"Yeah, but we haven't even been here for an hour yet. And you're supposed to be at the meeting place still."

"Yes, that is true. China said it himself that Japan had sent a message to him from the meeting place."

"Right, then Italy got really curious and wanted to go too, so we dragged Germany and Prussia along with us."

"Yeah, but we've really only been here for less than an hour, and it takes about three hours to get here from the meeting place…" said Canada.

"Yes, there are many things we need to talk about. Let's go to a safe room on the second floor now."

"Wait, before we do, what about your clothes? I found them in the fireplace upstairs, and their covered in blood," said China.

"Oh yeah, those."

"So…aren't you hurt?"

"Well, that's actually tomato…" said Japan.

"Tomato?" asked China.

"Yes. I'm fine, really. Now let's hurry up and get to the safe place before something bad happens."

"Right, of course," said China.

Japan then led them all to the meeting place, leaving to find the others. He first went to the room that he first found Germany in, walking up to Italy.

"I found the others, so let's go," said Japan.

"Okay. Ehi, debole, let's go!" Italy shouted into the strange doorway.

"Right, fine," said Germany, walking out of the door.

"Why do you keep wanting to go in there anyway, idiota?"

"It's just…interesting in there," he said.

"Could you be any vaguer?" Italy asked sarcastically.

"Come on, let's go now, the others are waiting," said Japan.

"Hey, have you seen my bruder?" Germany asked.

"No, I haven't," said Japan.

"I'm sure he's just sleeping somewhere," said Italy.

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Germany.

The three of them then left the room and went to the safe room, meeting up with the others.

"Sorry for the wait. This baka didn't want to leave his interesting tunnel thing," said Japan. "Anyway, as you know, I received the text from China saying that you were all here, and Italy thought it would be a good idea to come here too. So Germany, Italy, Prussia, and I came here. I went to look around first, and while I was gone, that monster attacked the other three."

"Were you okay? After all, that monster was pretty strong!" said England

"Yeah, we were fine zucchero filato signora. For some reason, though, it was targeting me, and since, as you all know, I'm not one to be messed with, I was eventually able to lose it."

"Yeah, that's not surprising," said China.

"Eventually, we all got together and spent the night in this room, since we had a key to it," said Japan.

"Ah, the night…" muttered Russia.

All the nations in the room shuddered before continuing the conversation.

"Hey, there's no more firewood," said Italy.

"Let's just burn this wooden box," said Germany.

Ignoring them, Japan said, "Anyway, we decided that one of us should stay up to keep watch while the others slept. We shouldn't have let Prussia do it, that's for sure… So when we woke up, I saw that Prussia was gone and that there were bloodstains in the hallway. I followed them, but eventually…"

"The trail ended," Russia finished.

This annoyed Japan a little, but since it was Russia, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

"We tried to look for him, but since I was with this codardo, we just went to those strange tunnels and let Japan continue the search. So then he found you, right?" asked Italy.

"Yeah, I did. But…where are the lunatic and France?"

"Well, the six of us came here and then split up into two groups! China, France, and I went to check out the second floor while Russia, America, and Canada stayed on the first floor!" said England.

"The second floor was really unsettling, so the psycho and I went to check out the third and fourth floors," said China. "When we had finished looking around, we came back to the second floor and waited for France. Since he didn't come, I went to look for him. I found Japan's burnt clothes in this room and wondered what had happened."

"So we came back down to the first floor and found Russia and Canada fighting that thing! It disappeared the first chance it got!" said England.

"Really. Hey, I noticed the many times I was fighting the thing," Japan then paused to glare at the others, and then continued, "That it looks like a friend of kyojin…"

"Yeah, I noticed it too. Its name was, umm…" said China, pausing to think.

"Wasn't it Tommy or something?" Germany suggested.

"Yes, I believe that was it! So, do you think this was my little Alfie's doing?" England asked. "He is the one who first heard about this place, after all!"

"Oh, so this is just a prank of that idiota pazzo? Then let's just go looking for him then," said Italy, already heading towards the door.

"No, you're wrong," said Canada.

* * *

**A/N: Yay, finally done! XD This one was even longer than the last one! Hope you liked it! **


	5. Chapter V: Three Paths

"That's not Tony," said Canada.

"When we were talking about looking around the first floor, that thing attacked us. And the moment I saw it, I realized it was that friend of Amerika's," said Russia.

"H-Hai, w-were we wrong? I thought we agreed that that was kyojin's friend…" said Japan.

"I live near America and have met Tony several times, but Tony would never intentionally attack America," said Canada.

"It attacked him?" asked China.

"Yeah, it was only one hit, but since he was still conscious, he shot at it with his pistol. His bat had been thrown across the floor. But even then, the bullets had no effect," said Canada. "We thought it was America's friend at first too, but when America fought it for real, we figured it probably wasn't…"

"Yup, I knew it!" said England.

"We tried to help him, but he yelled at us to stay back," said Russia.

"He probably just wanted to handle it on his own," said Canada. "But it was too strong for even the…three of us, so we tried to get it away from him. When I tried to fight it, though, I accidentally lowered my guard for a moment and was knocked out. When I came to, both America and the monster were gone… I-I'm s-sorry if I-I caused y-you any tr-trouble R-Russia."

Russia sent him a glare that froze him in place before saying sarcastically, "Oh, of course you weren't."

This made Canada cringe and scoot away from Russia.

"Anyway," Russia continued, "They wanted to help him, but they had no idea where he had gone, so we decided to start looking in the kitchen. That's when the thing attacked us and Kitay and Angliya showed up. So in other words, three people are missing. We should probably start looking for them before they start trying to kill each other."

Suddenly Italy, who was over by the fireplace, shouted, "Oh!"

"What is it?" Germany asked.

"There's something inside this burnt wooden box. Just a second… It's a key. It looks like it says…Hallway Key…" said Italy, rubbing away the soot on the key to try to see the letters more clearly.

"We've unlocked a new room!" exclaimed China.

"Finding a way out was our priority, but now we have to find those bakas, so we might as well go check it out. And also, those three are pretty tenacious…except for Prussia…so they should be okay. Unless they get in a fight…" said Japan.

"Well, I was caught by surprise before, but this time…" Russia didn't even need to finish for the other nations in the room to understand exactly what he meant.

"Let's hurry! I wouldn't want my little Alfie to kill the others yet!" said England.

"Well then, we'll split up into three groups. And everyone needs to be with someone else, just in case a monster attacks…" said Japan.

"Yeah, there are so many rooms…" said Italy.

"Hai. Now, about our unsynchronized watches…" said Japan.

There was a sudden noise at the door.

"Finally…" said Italy, taking out some knives.

"So, it found us after all…" said Japan while taking out his katana. "This room is no longer safe, then."

"Was it even off-limits in the first place? AHH! It's coming! What are we going to do?!" England asked as the door rattled again.

"My group will deal with the thing while Germany and Italy find the room that belongs to that key," said Japan.

"I'll fight with you Japan," said China.

"May I join you?" Russia asked.

Japan nodded, not trusting his voice.

"There's a room that interested me, so I'll go check that out with Canada! And Italy, if you find anything interesting, come to the room with the piano!" said England.

"Okay, I might," said Italy.

"Well then, good luck," said Japan as the monster walked up behind him.

… First Group: Russia, China, and Japan …

Everyone then quickly escaped.

"Well, everyone's gone," said China.

"Yes, everyone except us," said Japan.

"It's not very often the three of us get to do something together," said Russia.

"H-Hai… Hopefully we'll work together better…" said Japan.

"If you think the three of us are going to work together well…think again…" said China, glancing a little at Russia.

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Japan, also glancing at Russia, who was conveniently in front of them.

"Japan, can't you just beat that thing with that technique you used before?" Russia asked, completely ignoring their stares.

"Oh… W-Well, no… When I thought that this was kyojin's idea, I just wanted to defeat these things and get out of there. That attack was the result," said Japan. "Now that I know it wasn't him…well…I'm still angry, but not as much as before…"

"When we go home, I'll treat you to your favorite Chinese dish," said China.

"Umm, okay… Are you alright?" asked Japan, wondering why China would say something like that.

"Shì, I'm fine," said China.

"I would like some too. If we get out of here, I'll come over to your house and have some," said Russia.

"R-Right," said China.

"Okay, let's go!" shouted Japan, slashing at the monster in front of him.

China then also slashed at it, pushing it back even further. Russia pushed it back fully against the wall, slashing at it with the stolen sword cane.

"So that's what happened to it…" muttered Japan.

They continued to fight it, Japan and China slashing at it and Russia pushing it back against the wall, until it finally disappeared.

"It's weird that it disappears like that, the coward," muttered China. "We can't tell if we won or lost."

"Yes, but at least it's gone," said Japan.

"But what if it appears again?" asked Russia.

"You're not hurt, are you?" asked China walking over to Japan.

"Iie, I'll be fine. But that thing has grown stronger since the first time I fought it. If I had fought it alone, I would probably be dead. So…arigatou…" said Japan.

"Oh, and by the way, why were those clothes I found in the fireplace smeared with tomato?" asked China.

"Well, sometime after I woke up this morning, that thing attacked us again. Italy was surprised and started yelling at it to go away. He must have run out of knives or something, because he started throwing tomatoes at it…but they missed and hit me instead…although that might have been his objective in the first place… After we had defeated it, the smell was really bothering me, so I threw the clothes in the fireplace," said Japan.

"Where did you get the extra clothes, then?" asked China.

"That taidana baka wanted me to stay at his house for the meeting, so I did, albeit reluctantly. So those clothes were in the bag I had brought along," said Japan.

"And why did you have the bag with you here?"

"I wanted to be prepared, so I brought it along. It had other important things in it also."

"Ah," said Russia, over by one of the dressers in the corner.

"W-What is it R-Russia?" asked Japan.

"Well, there was this clock here, and it was really annoying, so I got rid of it," said Russia.

"A clock?" asked Japan, going over near Russia.

"Yes, a clock. It was so very annoying. I'm surprised you two didn't hear it," said Russia.

"H-Hai… Hey, now that I think about it, our clocks are all out of synch in this place…" said Japan.

"Yeah, it's really strange… Even though we came here ahead of Japan's group, they've been here longer. Oh, and by the way, the time on my watch is 11:42," said China.

"Mine's showing the same time as yours China," said Russia.

"What? But that wasn't supposed to… It's 11:42 on my watch also…but I swear it was 6 just a moment ago…" said Japan, utterly confused.

"Perhaps it's because I broke this clock?" suggested Russia.

"R-Right, that's probably it… Now the time in this clock is right. Maybe we can get the time to be right in the rest of the rooms if we break the rest of the clocks," said China.

"Then we'll break the clocks in the rest of the rooms. If we do that, then maybe…umm…maybe we can help France…and…kyojin…right…?" said Japan, now extremely confused.

Russia's cell phone started to ring.

"Oh, it's your cell phone," said China.

"Well, that's surprising. As soon as we broke the clock, our phones started to work also. Anyway, I'll answer it and put it on speaker so the two of you can hear too," said Russia, before answering it and saying, "Who is it?" into the speaker.

There was the sound of a piano note before it got cut off.

"Well, that was strange…" said Russia.

"Perhaps there's something wrong with your phone," said China.

Russia sent him a hard glare before saying, "There's nothing wrong with my phone."

"R-R-Right, s-sorry!" said China, waving his hands in front of his face to try and drive away Russia's icy glare.

"W-Well, anyway, what we just heard was a piano," said Japan.

"Yes, a piano…" said Russia, pondering this fact. "Since we're done here, let's go find England."

"Hai. And if everything goes well, and Italy feels like going there, Italy and Germany will meet us there also," said Japan.

… Second Group: Germany and Italy …

"That thing was bigger than before…perhaps we should go back and help them," said Italy, itching to go back and fight it instead of looking for a room with Germany.

"N-No, Italien," said Germany, not wanting anything to do with that thing. "We should just do what we were told and find the room. They can take care of themselves. They have…Russia… And besides, the more rooms we find, the greater chance we have of finding the others and getting out of here."

"…Fine…" said Italy reluctantly.

"Good. Now then, let's search these rooms and return to England."

"Ugh, why am I even doing this?" Italy wondered aloud, quickly walking down the halls to get it over with.

After walking around and trying door after door, they finally found the correct door. It was the one in the large room near the stairs. They unlocked it and walked in. Almost immediately after, one of the things appeared. Germany immediately started running as fast as he could, dragging Italy with him.

"Ugh, I want to fight the thing!" shouted Italy, trying to break free of the German's grip.

"N-N-N-NO!" stuttered Germany, still running. Eventually, they lost it.

Germany had dragged them into another room that they hadn't yet been in, and as they looked around it, they found a safe.

"Well, this is interesting…" muttered Italy as he tried to get it open. "It won't open!" he shouted, frustrated that it wouldn't open.

"Well, if it just opened, there wouldn't be any point to it," said Germany. "And besides, we don't have the right information. Let's keep looking."

"…Fine…" said Italy.

So the two of them left that room and went back to the room they had been in before. Since the only two interesting things in it were another door that couldn't be opened and a bunch of curtains, they searched behind the curtains. Behind the last curtain was a piece of paper.

"Hey, it's similar to the one we found before…" said Italy, looking at it more closely.

"It is…" said Germany, also looking at it.

The piece of paper had one red and one yellow rectangle on it.

"It looks…weird…" said Italy. "I wonder what it is…?"

Suddenly, Italy's cell phone started to ring.

"That's strange; I thought we didn't have service in this place?" Italy wondered aloud before picking it up. "Ciao."

The only thing on the other end was the sound of a piano.

"Well, that was weird," said Italy, hanging up.

"What?" asked Germany.

"It was just the sound of a piano," said Italy.

"Well, now that we have this piece of paper, let's go find England. Japan and the others will probably be there too, if they defeated that thing."

"Fine. Let's go," said Italy, already leaving.

… Third Group: England and Canada …

"So, we'll look around this room before the others get here!" said England.

"Right… So first, what about the piano…" said Canada, silently wondering how he get stuck with the psycho. "It has these weird numbers…"

"What do you think they're supposed to mean?" England asked, looking at the strange keys.

England then started to look at the bookshelves.

"Maybe they're a code for something…?" wondered Canada. "A safe, perhaps?"

"Well, the books in this room didn't give me any help, so I'm going next door, okay?" said England, walking to the doorway. "There were a lot of books over there, so I'll see if I can find anything interesting!"

"Okay…" said Canada. "Just…be careful…"

England then walked out of the room, skipping a little.

"Now, what was I thinking about?" he wondered aloud, pacing to the other side of the piano. "Let's see, the piano… Ugh, this is all America's fault that we're even here in the first place! Why can't he be more…wait never mind…that's impossible…"

Suddenly, the door opened and closed. Canada, without turning around, said, "Oh, you're done already. Well, I haven't really looked around here yet, so yeah… Oh, and we were told not to do anything alone. I should've probably gone with you…"

Canada then turned around and saw one of the things. He started freaking out a little, but then tried to do as his counterpart would: be invisible. Somehow, it worked, and the monster just walked to another part of the room.

_Crap, why did this have to happen now? _Canada though, watching the thing stupidly walk around the room. _What if all the others got killed…no, that would never happen…_ He continued to stand there acting like his counterpart, hoping that the thing wouldn't notice him. But obviously it was just toying with him, because he was suddenly knocked out.

_I…_

_I can't see anything…_

_Anything but the dark…_

"Hey, Canada!"

There was a sudden pain on his cheek as it was slapped.

"Canada, wake up! I'll give you a cupcake if you do~!"

This got his attention, and he opened his eyes to see England above him.

"Wh-What happened…?" he asked as he completely came to.

"I don't know! I came back and you were lying near the piano, unconscious!"

"Oh yeah, I…"

"You really scared me! Did something happen?"

"Ah, umm, I can't quite remember…perhaps because the flow of time is strange, you didn't run into it…" said Canada, rubbing his head.

"Run into what?" asked England, confused.

"Ow… Umm, that thing…it came into this room, and I don't think it'll be coming back for a while…"

The three groups survived successfully. Meeting in the piano room.

Japan was finishing what his group had found out. "-and by breaking the clocks, the flow of time is restored, so we must do this in every room we go into. We have broken the clocks on the first and second floors. Now just this floor and the one above are left."

"We found this weird piece of paper," said Italy. "And a safe in a room on the first floor."

"A safe? Maybe the keys on the piano are some kind of hint to the combination…" said Canada.

"Yes, and then we could actually make some progress," said Russia. "First, let's look at those scraps of paper Italy found."

"Yes, they seem to be a perfect match!" said England. "Try sticking them together!"

Just before Italy did that, England's phone rang.

"Oh, sorry about this! I'll have to take it!"

"Again? R-Russia's rang earlier…" said China.

"Mine did too. I heard a piano," said Italy.

"A piano? Perhaps that's what mine will be! I'll answer it!"

England then answered it and, sure enough, it was a piano.

"That was a different note from the one we heard on Russia's cell phone," said Japan. "Itaria, did you also hear a different note?"

"Yeah, it was different," said Italy.

"One note, that's the only thing they all have in common! But there's no doubt that they are a big hint! We should try solving this!" said England.

"Hai, and if we do that we'll soon be able to meet kyojin and France. So let's hurry up before they either kill each other or get mad enough to kill us when we find them," said Japan.

"Wait, what?" Italy asked, looking at Japan confused.

"What are you talking about?" asked England, equally confused.

"What, did I say something wrong?" Japan challenged, hand on his katana.

"…R-Russia…" said China, looking at him.

"Da, I know," he said, staring at Japan.

"Um, excuse me?" Japan asked, wondering when China and Russia actually started to get along.

"You asked if you had said something wrong! Was that on purpose? Because you forgot about Prussia!" said England.

"Yeah, why did you say France and pazzo, Japan? The ones we have to save are France and debole, right? Why did you say pazzo?" Italy asked, still confused.

"What?!" Canada asked, now confused and a little mad.

"What's wrong with you people?" England asked. "We're here to save my little Alfie! Neither France nor Prussia came to this place!"

Russia and China continued to stay quiet.

"Wait…only kyojin? Well, kyojin said at the meeting place that he wanted to come…and then I said I would come with him, so I came here with America," said Japan.

"Japan, what's wrong with you idiota? The three of us came here with Prussia, remember? America didn't come, and France got separated from Russia and the others…" said Italy, still confused.

"You guys…" muttered China.

"Wait, wasn't my little Alfie the only one who's missing? Why do you keep bringing up the other two?" England confusedly asked.

"What the crap is going on…?" Japan asked, shaking his head.

* * *

**A/N: Tada, done! So, whaddya think? Tell me in a review, por favor! Me gusta reviews! XD They make my day, really! So don't make me feel like all this work was for nothing! Cuz the power went out…and I had to start this over…and then the Steve kept getting me when I was running away from it, and ugh! I'll just stop now…**


	6. Chapter VI: Password

"Let's see…" said Japan, looking around the room for another clock. "It should be here," he said, opening a drawer. "Yup, it's here alright. Now to break it." Japan then broke the clock and said, "There. Now just one more…"

…

"_See, here it is. Just like those rumors said," said America._

"_Would you please be quiet my little Alfie?" England asked._

"_Hey, I'm not doin' nothin' wrong! Right Japan?" America asked Japan._

"That's right, it really was kyojin and England I came here with…" thought Japan during his flashback. "We said that and then we went inside…"

"_Is this it?" Prussia asked gloomily. "If mein bruder und Italien aren't in this place, you'll be sorry…"_

_Japan rolled his eyes before replying, "Hai, they're here."_

"_You're probably thinking that this sucks…" said Prussia, getting even more depressed…if that was possible._

"_Tch, no I'm not baka…" said Japan._

"Oh yeah, that's right. I came here with Prussia and then we went inside to save Italia and Germany…" Japan thought, confused. "Er…no, wait… This memory is wrong too…"

"_So, this is the haunted mansion Amèrique was talking about," said France, looking up curiously at the mansion._

"_Yeah, it is. Now let's hide before they get here so we can at least try to scare them…" said China, now rethinking his plan._

"_Tch, China, you know that that will never work. The others will know we're here before they even get close to this place. They might even know it now," said Japan._

"_Look, they're coming. Let's at least try it," said China._

_France rolled his eyes and said, "Wouldn't it be easier to just not hide and let them walk up here so we can talk with them or something. That would be so much easier," said France._

"_Hai, exactly Furansu," said Japan._

"Yeah, this one's wrong too… Or is it…? No, it's definitely wrong."

"_It looks like something could come out of it and attack us…" said Japan. "I think we should go in."_

"_Da, true. Are you sure they're here? Because if not…" said Russia, staring hard at the others and making them shudder._

"_You can go in, Russia," said Prussia. "I'll wait here with Japan…"_

_Japan glared at Prussia. "I am NOT staying out here with you."_

"_Fine, you two can stay out here while the rest of us go in," said Russia, completely ignoring what Japan just said. "I'm sure we can give them a good scare…"_

"_Uhh, how about you just go in by yourself…" said Canada._

"_I know…Prussia, you can go with Russia while the rest of us stay out here and wait for you," said Japan, smirking._

"And then Russia gave Germany and Italia quite a scare… No wait, this still isn't right… Ugh, where is the right memory?!"

"_We're here," said Italy._

_"Tch, we'll be fine," said Japan, rolling his eyes at his companion._

_Prussia just glanced at the mansion and said, "It looks depressing."_

"Oh yeah…this one…"

…

"I guess I'll go back to the others now…" said Japan, still a little confused by the memories he had just seen.

Japan walked back into the circle of nations, where Germany was saying, "I think the pieces of paper we've found are really important. They might give us a clue that'll get us out of here."

Japan rolled his eyes before saying, "Now your main concern is that figuring out the password?"

"Da. Everyone gave up on the other one, so now we're trying to figure this one out," said Russia.

"Wait, then shouldn't someone's phone ring again? There are four squares, so there should've been four phone calls," said China.

"How can we even get calls when we don't have service? And besides, we don't know who this person is! Should we just follow the hints they give us and have it be potentially dangerous?" asked England.

"Tch, since when did you become so worried about our wellbeing?" asked Italy, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, that is a little strange. Usually you just stuff cupcakes down our throats without a second thought…" said Germany.

Suddenly, Germany's phone started to ring.

"Well, answer it," said Canada.

"R-Right, I'll answer it," said Germany, a little nervous.

Germany answered the phone, but the only thing on the other end was a piano.

"It was just a piano again," said Japan.

"How about we put together what we've heard so far?" said Russia.

"The note we just heard was La," said Germany.

"I heard Si," said Italy.

"I heard Sol~!" said England.

"And I heard Re," said Russia.

"So the notes we heard were Re, Si, Sol, and La!" said England.

"So let's look at the piano now," said Italy.

Everyone crowded around the piano, trying to figure out what everything they had so far meant.

"Ah, I think I've got it. The notes we heard were these," he said, pointing at the keys.

"Right, and then the numbers on those keys must be the code," said Japan.

"Yes, and then the code it 4269!" said England.

"No, when you look at the pieces of paper we found, the numbers should fit into the blanks," said Canada. He then put the numbers into the blanks with a random pencil he found. "So the code is 5294."

"Ah, good job Canada," said China.

"Yes, when you put it that way, it sounds so simple," said Germany. "So let's go to that safe now."

"Right," said Japan as everyone left.

But Italy stayed behind for some reason and walked over to the piano.

"So…they solved it after all…" said Italy, smirking. "I thought those idioti would never figure it out… I thought I had done everything right… I guess I shouldn't have given them a hint… Hmm…yes, this is definitely the right thing to do. Watching those idioti try to figure everything out is so much fun… Well, we're almost there…" Italy said, ending in an evil laugh.

After Italy had come out of the room, everyone went downstairs to the room with the safe in it. Japan walked up to the chest to type the code in.

"So… 5294…" he murmured while typing in the code. There was a click, and Japan said, "Ah, it's open."

Inside the chest was a key.

"Study Key…" said Japan, looking at the words on the key.

"Maybe it's that room in that Japanese style room," said Germany.

"Hai, you're probably right," said Japan.

So all the nations left the room and went to that room. Japan walked up to the door at the end of the room and inserted the key, walking into the room with the others following. After looking around for a while, Canada said, "I found a switch."

"Well, hurry up and press it," said Japan.

So Canada pressed it and the bookshelf in the left corner of the room slid, revealing a door. Everyone walked into the room. The last person in, Italy, locked it behind them. There was a jail cell in the room, and inside the jail cell was a key. Italy walked up to the door and used one of his knives to pick the lock, swinging the door open so Japan could grab the key.

"Basement Key…" said Japan.

Japan then unlocked the door and stepped out, almost running into one of the things. The thing chased after him as he ran, trying to get away from it since it's attention seemed to be on him only. He ran and ran until he finally lost the thing. He then returned to the study room, where everyone else was waiting.

"Ah, sorry about that…" said China.

"Tch, karada no yowai hito no baka…" Japan murmured, rolling his eyes.

"Umm…" said Canada, trying to ignore what Japan had just said. "We found the other clock."

"That key leads to the basement, right? Well I think that before we go down there we should settle this memory thing," said Russia.

"R-Right, good idea Russia," said Germany. "Now, does anyone have anything to say before we break the clock?"

"Well, I guess I'll go first!" said England when no one else spoke up. "Was it just me or did you notice anything odd when we broke the clocks?"

"Oh, you noticed it too?" asked China. "Then I guess I haven't gone insane…"

"You mean we all get false memories whenever we break a clock?" asked Russia.

"Yeah, when we broke the clock in the piano room, I got memories of coming here with Japan and others…" said China.

"Yes. Now let's try to remember what actually happened," said Russia.

"It all started at the world conference! Everyone was there, even the people who are missing right now!" said England.

"Right, there's no doubt that that's where we started. So kyojin heard rumors about this place and wanted to come see what it was like," said Japan.

"The meeting had ended and we had nothing better to do, so I came with America, China, Russia, France, and England," said Canada.

"We had also invited Japan, but he didn't want to come yet. So that's why I sent him a message right before we went into the mansion," said China.

"When Italy saw the message, he started to say that he really wanted to come and was even threatening me, so we came here with Japan und mein bruder," said Germany.

"Tch, yup," said Italy.

"But I also have different memories! I remember coming here with my little Alfie and Japan, and it was China who got separated from us, not France!" said England.

"Maybe we're getting confused because of all the mixed memories," said Italy. "We don't know which one is right, so we're drawing the wrong conclusions."

"Yes, good idea. When you don't know which memories are real and which ones are false, you get confused. And once you suspect something, everything else becomes suspicious," said Russia, staring at everyone.

"That means that from now on we'll get a lot of false memories when we break a clock, but we should just ignore them," said Italy.

"Tch, no duh," said Japan. "We just ignore the false memories and focus on the ones we know to be true."

"That's annoying…" said China. "So we need to be ready to receive strange memories whenever we break a clock."

"Okay, so if you can discard them without worrying about them, you should definitely do so," said Germany. "Anyway, I'm going to break this clock, so if any of you get strange memories, just forget about them. Don't forget who you came with or how you came to be here now."

"Right, and if we don't break it, time won't go back to normal! So we need to break it as soon as possible!" said England.

"All right then," said Germany before breaking the clock.

…

"_Oh, there you are Okubyōmono," said Japan, walking up to Prussia._

"This is when I first found Prussia… But I feel as if there's something I'm forgetting…" thought Japan.

"_W-What…?" asked Prussia, coming out from underneath the bed. "Oh, Japan…"_

"Something is different… I found Prussia and then brought him to Germany…"

"_What's the matter?" Japan asked after a long silence._

"_Don't you hear the sound of something getting closer…?"_

_The door suddenly opened and a thing came in. _

"_What…?" Prussia asked, surprised. _

"It came in…? I don't remember that… Oh, I never locked the door."

"_Watch out!" Prussia suddenly shouted as the thing stepped forward, almost attacking Japan. But instead Prussia jumped forward and saved Japan._

"_Nani…?" Japan asked aloud, extremely confused._

"_Ow…" said Prussia, falling to the ground._

"_Naze… Why would you save me, baka?" asked Japan, still confused._

"_Umm…it was instincts…" said Prussia. "And besides…I'm a nation…I won't die…"_

"_Uhh, baka! You're not a nation anymore!" snapped Japan, now a little angry._

"_Oh yeah…that's right… Are mein bruder…und Italien all right?"_

"_Yeah, last I knew," said Japan. "They left the mansion and are probably waiting for us outside."_

"_Right, okay…" said Prussia._

"Oh yeah, because I forgot to lock the door, Prussia had to die. But…I'm pretty sure I did lock the door…so this memory must be false. And I know he would be too lazy to jump forward and save me like that."

The scene changed to a room that they hadn't been in yet.

"Nani?"

"_Even though the four of us have gotten together, things haven't gotten better… We're still locked up and that thing is still after us," said Germany._

"This hasn't happened yet. What's going on…?"

"_Hey, don't be so pessimistic bruder…" said Prussia._

"_You're one to talk…" muttered Japan._

"_The others will realize we're gone and might come to save us…" said Prussia, now realizing they might be stuck in there for a while._

"_We're being eaten one by one. That's what the thing's doing," said Germany._

"_Yeah, but I'm sure there are other ways to get out of here…" said Prussia._

"_Right…" said Germany. "It's just I feel as if I'm on a battlefield again… I should start thinking on the bright side now. And trying to save you all…"_

"_Tch, you think you can save us?" Japan asked, smirking. _

"_Hey, pazzo," said Italy._

"_Hmm?" asked Germany, looking up at Italy._

"_You're all gonna be okay. If you get out, just run. Don't look back, no matter what, and get time-" said Italy._

"Time? What's Italy talking about?"

_Suddenly, the door opened and one of the things walked in and stood behind Italy._

"_Italy?" Japan asked, confused._

"_Italy…" said Prussia._

"_Just promise me," said Italy._

"What's he going to do?"

"_Italy…" said Germany, wondering why Italy would actually side with the thing._

"Ehi, Japan, you okay?" Italy was asking, waving his hand in front of Japan's face.

"Oh, Italy!" said Japan, confused.

Japan suddenly stumbled forward, clutching his head. Since Italy was standing right there, he was the one to catch him.

"What's wrong Japan?" asked Italy, confused by Japan's behavior.

"Japan, you do remember what we said about the clocks, right?" asked Canada, also confused by Japan's behavior.

"Oh, right," said Japan. "Gomen, I just forgot…"

"You seem to get a lot more memories than the rest of us, and they seem to be more intense too," said China.

"Do you need to rest a little?" asked England, holding up a cupcake. "And maybe have a cupcake?"

"No, I don't need to a cupcake!" said Japan, snapping out of his confusion. "You all seem to be…fine."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't get any strange memories or anything," said Germany. "I haven't been confused at all. Maybe I've just been exempted."

"Shut up…" murmured Japan.

"Yeah, mine was okay. I remember running from the thing with Italy and coming here with America…" said Canada.

"Yeah, me too. But once I had calmed down, I realize they were all fake, so I forgot about them right away," said China.

"When we go through it again, it's like we're waking up from a dream!" said England. "When we first wake up, we have trouble separating the dream from reality! But once we calm down, we realize it's all fake! So we just need to calm down!"

"Oi, did any of you see any rooms we haven't been in yet?" Japan asked.

"No, all the memories I've gotten so far have been of rooms we've already been in," said Russia.

"Did something happen?" asked Italy.

"No, I'm fine…" said Japan. _When we break the clocks, we get false memories that confuse us, _thought Japan. _I'm just confused because of all those memories…that's it._

"Okay, are everyone's watches correct?" asked England. Everyone nodded. "Yay! Then let's go to the basement!"

_It's like seeing so many things that you don't know what's real anymore. But if that room does exist… _Japan thought, still thinking about what he had seen.

"Japan?" asked Italy, a little confused by Japan's behavior.

"Italy…" said Japan, thinking about the memories.

"Yeah, what?" asked Italy.

"Are you…feeling okay?"

"Umm, yeah…" said Italy, awkwardly walking away from Japan and out the door.

"Oh, okay…"

"I know this isn't very important, but I want to rest somewhere where we won't be attacked by that thing…" said China randomly.

"Yeah, I'm so tired. I wish I could sleep somewhere…" said Canada.

_We really need to be careful, _Japan thought, thinking rationally for the first time. _We thought we were being tricked by those false memories, but maybe…_

_They could be…a message from someone?_

* * *

**A/N: Tada! So, think it's okay? If you do, tell me in a review!**


	7. Chapter VII: Memories

After everyone had gotten their memories straightened out, for the most part anyway, they all left the room they were in and headed to the door they assumed was the door to the basement. Japan inserted the key into the keyhole, turned it, and opened the door. The only thing on the other side was a giant hole in the wall. Japan walked through the hole and into another small room. There were two doors, one right across from where everyone was standing and one on the same side as where they were standing. Japan decided to go into the one across from them. After he had entered, Italy followed. Japan searched the dressers in the corner and soon found a key.

"Cell door key…" he mumbled aloud.

"Ehi, Japan," said Italy, walking over to Japan.

"Mm? What is it?"

"You've been thinking about something for a while, haven't you?"

"Uhh, well, maybe…" said Japan, wondering how Italy could have known.

"'Cuz you've been acting awfully strange since we broke that clock," said Italy.

"Yeah…but what about you? Why are you even asking me this?"

"Just…'cuz… Umm, hey, if you saw anything strange, just know they were all just a bunch of fake memories, alright?"

"But shouldn't I think about the confusing things, try-"

"NO!" shouted Italy, abruptly cutting Japan off.

"What?!" Japan asked, stepping away from Italy a little and putting his hand on his katana.

"Just don't even think about those things, okay? They were all fake!" said Italy before exiting the room.

"Well, that was weird, even for him…" muttered Japan.

Japan then left the room too, not wanting to keep everyone waiting for too much longer. Japan then led them into the other door, soon being faced with a lot of confusing rooms and hallways. Eventually, after walking around for a while, they came to a cell door blocking their path. Japan inserted the key he had with him and unlocked the door, pushing it aside and walking through. He looked left and right, trying to decide on which way to go next. He finally decided to go to the left, walking through the door and almost immediately seeing three nations standing behind bars.

"You!" shouted Japan, stepping back from the bars, just in case.

"Oh, it's you," said America, stepping forward. "What are you doing here?"

"We should be asking you that! We've been so worried about you! What have you been doing all this time?" asked England, happily stepping towards the bars.

"Hey, could you just open this door for us? We can't open it from inside, and I don't want to be stuck with these two any longer," said France, getting up from his position in the corner and walking over to the bars, a cigarette in his mouth.

After a few moments of pondering, Japan said, "Fine, I'll open it for you."

He walked over to the cell door and opened it with one of the keys he had. The three nations that were in there immediately came out, except for Prussia, who was sleeping. Germany went in and dragged him out, bringing him to the circle of nations that had formed in front of the cell.

"Thanks," said America, hefting his bat onto his shoulder. "That was a good place to hide, but then we got stuck…and we've been waiting for you to find us…"

"Yeah, but it's the last time we're helping you…" muttered China.

"What did you say?" asked America, starting to walk over to China. England quickly stopped him, holding up a cupcake.

"Umm, anyway…" said Germany, ignoring the two nations, "What were you doing in there Prussia?"

"Umm…you guys weren't waking up, and I had a really hard time after opening the door… I'm lucky I'm still alive," mumbled Prussia, still half asleep.

"Yeah, you were gone when we woke up. Did you fight a thing?" asked Japan.

"Oh yeah… When I was keeping watch, there was a sudden loud pounding on the door… When I opened the door, he was there…" said Prussia, glancing over at France.

"Yeah, but you almost killed me too. Where did you even get that sword from?" asked France, still annoyed by what Prussia had done.

"It was hanging on the wall…" said Prussia. "And besides, I said I was sorry… And the wound's not even that serious…"

France just rolled his eyes, puffing on his cigarette before saying, "Anyway, while you three were sleeping, we exchanged information. Then-"

"-the monster came out of nowhere… That sword obviously hadn't been used in a while, so we got pretty badly injured…" said Prussia, on top of things for once. "We didn't want to wake you guys up since we knew that would make you mad, so we went into the hallway to fight it… We were at a disadvantage, though, so we ran down to the first floor…"

"And before we knew it, that monster had gotten ahead of us and was attacking America. We were going to sneak behind it, but then America saw us and waved us over for some reason. So we were dragged into it too…" said France, glaring at America.

"Hey, I saw you two and thought you could help us, alright?" said America, pointing his bat towards France.

"Anyway, since we weren't ready to fight, we couldn't fight, so we ran down to this room and into the cell… But then we couldn't open it from the inside, so we had to wait for you guys to find us…" said Prussia.

"Hey, we should explain to them what's going on. Let's split into two groups," said Canada.

"Hmm, good idea. I'll just keep looking around the basement," said Japan.

"England and I'll stay to talk to America," said Canada.

"I have some things to tell them too," said Germany.

"Then I'll just go with Japan," said America.

"Umm, weren't you listening? You have to stay so we can explain to you what's going on," said China.

"Yeah, no thanks. And besides, Japan can explain it to me," said America.

_Ugh, why him? _Japan thought, dreading their talk.

"Fine, whatever. Let's go," said Japan, walking out of the room.

"I'm coming too," said Italy.

"Ah, no. We'll just look around and be right back. And I'll tell him what's been going on so far…" said Japan.

"Wait, I'm coming with you! There's been something that's been bothering me!" said England, already walking towards the door.

"Uh, but…"

"Oh, come now! It'll be really quick! Please!"

"Ugh, fine! Come on, then! We'll be back in about fifteen minutes," said Japan, walking out of the room with America and England following.

"But, Japan…" muttered Italy, too quietly for anyone else to hear.

Japan led the way forward into the next hallway and a small room. The space was taken up mostly by a table, with some bookshelves in the corners.

"There's something about this room that's bothering me…" murmured England, looking around the room. "I'll check it out later…"

Japan ignored him and continued walking, heading through a door in the back corner of the room and into a stone passageway. They followed it all the way to the end, finding a rope ladder leading up and out.

"A rope ladder…" muttered Japan, looking up.

"Yay! We can finally get out of here!" said England

"Yeah…" said Japan. "I guess we should probably tell the others though."

"Right, good idea!" said England, quickly speeding off.

"Well, let's go," said Japan, walking past America.

"Wait a minute Japan," said America, putting a hand on Japan's shoulder.

"Hmm?" Japan asked, turning back around and pushing America's hand off.

"You haven't told me why you brought me along yet."

"Oh? Well, someone's grown sharper," said Japan, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't compare me to my idiot counterpart," growled America, glaring at Japan. "Anyway, I think I know what's going on."

"Really? Then let's just have a little talk."

So they talked, while England searched the room they had passed through before.

"Hmm, there's just something about this room…something that feels like it's pulling me… Nope, not here either… Aha! There's some sort of seal here! Hmm? A magic circle with my handwriting? What could it be doing here?" England wondered, looking at it. "Oh well! Let's see what it's sealing!"

England broke the seal on the bookshelf, quickly releasing some magic.

"Ooh! Some of my magic's back! Now I can fight the thing with my magic if I wanted to!"

At that moment, America and Japan walked into the room.

"Ah, there you are! What took you so long?"

"Did something happen?" asked Japan, looking at England's magic circle thing.

"Well, you could say that! I won't be such a burden in our next fight, that's for sure!"

"You were only a burden in the fights? Whatever you say…" America said.

England looked at America, confused and a little hurt.

"Well, I could only use my cupcakes and the knives I had handy! And those don't work very well…but I'm not a burden any other time! And now I can easily stop him!" said England, before muttering, "For about two seconds…"

Japan and America just rolled their eyes, kind of annoyed at England's behavior.

"I can do it longer if I could just replenish my magic a little more!"

"Yeah, but then you would kill the rest of us…" muttered Japan, rolling his eyes.

"Hey look, a clock," said America, pointing to the top shelf of one of the bookshelves.

Japan looked. "Hai, it is a clock."

"Hey look, the clock works with my magic!" said England.

"Hey, could you break it? I want to go through what y'all have gone through, even if it is only once," said America.

"Okay then! I'll just watch you then!"

"Oi, do we really need to break the clock? We already found a way out, so couldn't we just get the others and go?" asked Japan.

"Come on, I just want to go through it once," said America.

"I say we break it!" said England, grabbing the clock. "I just hope you're ready for it!"

England then broke the clock with his magic, plunging the other two nations into a sea of memories.

"_We can finally escape…" said Prussia, actually walking a little faster. "Then I can go home and sleep…in my own bed…"_

_Italy rolled his eyes and said, "Right." _

"_You're all too slow. I'm going ahead," said Germany, walking forward towards the ladder._

"_Hmm…it's too bad all the others were a bunch of weaklings…" said Japan._

_Italy was surprisingly quiet after Japan said that. Japan was actually getting a little worried about him. Suddenly, Germany screamed from up ahead, alerting Italy immediately. His eyes widened and he rushed forward, Japan and Prussia quickly following._

"_G-Guys, run away!" shouted Germany. _

_Italy was kind of freaking out when he saw the thing standing there in front of a burning ladder. _

"_No…we were so close…and America and the others!" Italy muttered, continuing to stare._

"_Well, what are you standing there for? I don't want to fight another thing… Let's go. You too, bruder…" said Prussia, already walking back towards the hallway._

"_And just when we had found an exit!" shouted Germany, following behind the others._

_They quickly ran back to the exit, Prussia pushing Japan through the door. Germany, farther behind the others, tripped over something on the ground._

"_Crap!" said Germany as he fell. "Is this it?"_

_The thing walked up to Germany, attacking and killing him._

"Is this something that might happen in the future? Am I really glimpsing events that might happen after all?" wondered Japan. "Well, I can't just worry about it. Maybe I can do something about it."

"_Wait, Prussia, Germany tripped over a rock!" said Japan, telling him since he didn't see where Italy went._

"_Bruder…" said Prussia, starting to head towards Germany._

"_No, just go! My foot's tangled in a strong vine!" shouted Germany, trying to send Prussia away and save him._

_But Prussia ignored him and ran towards Germany, standing in front of the thing with his sword. _

"_Why can't things ever go right for us…?" he wondered as he faced the thing. "And just when we were going to get out…"_

"_Prussia, just go!" shouted Germany._

"_Everyone else died and we're the only ones left… You three can go back…"_

_Prussia fought with the thing while Germany got free. But by the time he was free, Prussia had been killed by the thing._

"No, he wasn't the right one to tell… And even if we are countries, it doesn't matter in this place…it's like we can get killed like a normal person. I have to remember that… Ugh, I feel so helpless! Maybe if I did something before… I have to prevent Germany from falling. If I do that, everything will be fine."

The memory went back to the burning ladder.

"Here. I need to do something right here."

_Japan went forward and attacked the thing, sending it back against the wall._

"There, this is the best it's gone."

_The thing suddenly attacked Japan with three times the force Japan attacked it with. _

"_Ugh!" said Japan, falling back against the wall and clutching his wounds._

"_Japan!" shouted Germany._

"It's no use… And it seems that the more memories I get, the stronger the thing gets… Any more of this-"Japan stopped his thinking rant as Italy said something in the memory.

"_I knew it… Japan… Germany… Prussia… Looks like we couldn't make it again… It's so much stronger than it was in the beginning…even I can't do this alone…"_

"_Italy?" Prussia questioned, confused by what Italy was saying._

"_Come on, let's just run!" shouted Germany._

"_I made a mistake again…" said Italy, too caught up in his thoughts to notice the thing coming forward to attack him. Germany suddenly jumped forward to protect Italy._

"_Bruder…Italy…" said Prussia, watching as the thing attacked and killed both Germany and Italy._

"No… They would still be lost in this case… We might as well just not even come here… But if we do that, another memory will come, isn't that right?" Japan asked no one in particular. "You'll only show me the worst of what could happen, and someone will always be lost in the end… What can I do? What's the best case scenario?"

Japan was suddenly out of those memories and back in the room.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked England.

"Ah, hai…" said Japan, mind still racing.

"Well…that was interesting…" said America. "Umm, so, which one's real again?"

"Try to sort it out while we head back! And if you still can't figure it out, ask Germany! He isn't being affected for some reason…" said England.

"Right, okay… Oh, by the way Iggy, you look kind of unfocused. How many fingers am I holding up?" asked America, holding up some fingers.

"Oh, two fingers of course! Now let's go!" said England.

_There are too many possibilities, _thought Japan. _I feel as if my head is going to explode… What can I do now? I seriously can't do this on my own…_

The three nations left the room they were in and went back to the room they had left the rest of the nations in.

"Oh, so you found an exit?" asked Russia after the story had been told.

"Yup! We can finally escape! Come on, let's go!" said England.

"Right, we should probably hurry…" said Italy.

"Oh, c'mon. We already have an exit secured. I want to go see the rest of the house. I've only seen the basement," said America.

"Guys, you go ahead. When America's like this…" said Canada, not even needing to finish for the others to know what he meant.

"Yeah, we should probably make sure that rope isn't rotten. We'll just go ahead and make sure there aren't any problems," said Germany.

"I'm going somewhere else. I found some Chinese medicine that I wanted, so I'm going to go get it," said China.

"Hey, Japan, could you stay here… I want to talk to you… The others can wait in the other room…" said Prussia.

"Umm, okay…" said Japan, confused.

After everyone had left, Prussia asked, "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean? Everything's fine," said Japan.

"Yeah, but I meant when you break the clocks… I haven't been through it yet, but you see things when you break them, don't you?"

"Oh, so you could tell? Interesting… Maybe you aren't always half asleep."

"Well…yeah… Anyway, you can just tell me the important things now."

Japan rolled his eyes before saying, "Fine. I'm not exactly sure, but… From now on, no matter what choice I make, someone's going to die…"

"Oh…"

"Yeah, I tried several different ways last time we broke a clock, but the more I tried, the stronger the thing became… Ugh, I can't defeat it alone anymore…" said Japan, looking kind of annoyed with himself.

"If you can't defeat it on your own, how did you do it up until now?"

"Well, when I had to fight it, I fought it with Germany and Italy, or with you, or with Russia and China."

"And why did you stop there? You tried several options, right? You should have talked to someone else before trying again… Did you really think-no wait, never mind, I already know the answer to that question… But at least you told me now… And I'm sure I could help you try to save more people…" Prussia then started to leave the room, headed for where the thing was.

"Wait, Prussia…" said Japan.

"C'mon, I'm tired… I stayed up all night watching you, and I want to get back to my own bed as quickly as possible…"

"But…if we go back there, our lives are in danger…"

"Hey, you're forgetting something simple…" said Prussia. "When you're that worried about stuff, you should really tell people… We should all at least try to work together every once in a while…"

"Yeah, but now that I've glimpsed so many possibilities, I'm sure the thing has gotten stronger… And besides, with an enemy that grows progressively stronger, what can I do…?" Japan wondered aloud, seriously worried.

The two of them left the room after their talk, headed for the stone passageways.

"We can finally escape…" said Prussia, actually walking a little faster. "Then I can go home and sleep…in my own bed…"

Italy rolled his eyes and said, "Right."

"You're all too slow. I'm going ahead," said Germany, walking forward towards the ladder.

"Wait, Germany," said Japan, trying to stop Germany before he even went to the ladder in the first place. But it was futile. Germany had already gotten out of earshot of Japan and was headed towards the ladder.

_Ugh, there's no time left. I can't stop him now. And our enemy is probably stronger too… Wait…our enemy is definitely stronger. Whenever I glimpsed a memory, our enemy was stronger. But…it wasn't just the enemy…_

Suddenly, Germany screamed from up ahead, alerting Italy immediately. His eyes widened and he rushed forward, Japan and Prussia quickly following.

_Maybe what Prussia is trying to say is that… We've all gotten stronger too._

"Well, there it it…" said Japan as the thing came into view.

"Hey, Japan, run quickly!"

"Yeah, let's go…I'm, uhh, kinda worried about the others…" said Italy, actually sounding kind of nervous.

"Ahh, so this is what he meant…" said Prussia, staring at the thing.

"C'mon, just run!" shouted Germany.

"Right, if we run, we can all still make it," said Italy. He muttered something else under his breath that Japan couldn't hear though. He figured it was probably unimportant. But apparently that muttered thought made Italy a little happier.

"R-Right…" said Germany, confused by Italy's behavior.

_Our enemy may be tough, but I'm still faster. But I know I can't do this alone…for now…_

"Hey, Japan," said Prussia, quickly motioning for him to follow.

The four of them ran, but just before they reached the door, Japan said, "Prussia, wait, Germany tripped over a rock."

"Bruder," said Prussia, quickly turning around and heading in Germany's direction.

"Crap, I can't get this vine off…" said Germany, struggling with the vine. "Just go!"

"Hey, Japan, got your answer yet?" asked Prussia as he stepped forward to face the thing.

"Prussia, why?" asked Germany as his brother fought off the thing.

"C'mon, bruder…try to get that thing off you," said Prussia, risking a glance in his direction.

"Hey, Germany, I'm, umm, sorry…" said Italy.

"For what?"

"For being like my counterpart, that's what… I guess this place has just gotten to me…" muttered Italy.

_Oh, my mistake was trying to solve everything on my own. And the reason I kept losing was because of my narrow-mindedness…I only observed the enemy…_

"So this is my answer!" shouted Japan, stepping forward near the thing. "Our enemy may have gotten stronger, but so have we. If we join forces for once, we can defeat it."

"Finally…" muttered Prussia.

"Idiots! Why did you come back for me?" asked Germany, flustered.

"You want to know why I came back? Because…I actually do care for you…a little…" said Prussia, earning him surprised glances from everyone.

The four of them then fought off the thing, pushing it back little by little until they had enough room to escape.

"Let's just go…we can't physically defeat it…" said Prussia.

"Hey, Italy, you look kind of pale… Are you alright?" asked Germany, looking at Italy.

"Oh, hmm? I'll be fine, let's just go join the others again…" said Italy.

So the four of them quickly left the passageway and ran to join the others. The first person they found was Russia.

"What happened?" he asked as they ran by.

"The ladder's been burned. We have to use a different exit now!" said Japan, quickly running past Russia.

"I see, good thing you found me then. Let's go meet the others then."

Russia joined the party and they soon ran into France.

"Oh, so it was burned out," said France after Japan had told him what had happened. "Let's just go now."

France then joined the party, running with the rest of the nations. They found China in the next room.

"The ladder's been burned out! We have to find somewhere else," said Japan.

"Really? Then let's hurry," said China, running along with the others.

The next person they ran into was Canada.

"Okay then," he said after Japan had told him what had happened. "America and England are in the next room."

Canada then joined the rest of them, running into the next room. Once they were in there, they locked the doors and rested.

"Really? And just when we were about to get out!" said England.

"So, now we're all in this tiny room," said America.

"Yeah, but even though we're all here, our situation hasn't gotten any better," said Germany. "Now we're locked up in here and that monster is trying to get us."

"Bruder, what matters is that we're all still alive…" said Prussia. "And besides, with so many nations gone, I'm sure someone will notice and they might try to save us…"

_How odd, I feel as if I'm forgetting something… _thought Japan.

"We also have to connect time in here with time out there," said China. "We have to keep breaking clocks."

"Yeah, that's the best shortcut. We still need to keep our strength up too…" said Russia. "You'll all agree with me, I'm sure, but we're all quite tired…and from running away mostly too. That's very out of character for us…"

"It is, isn't it… Well…maybe escaping really is impossible…" said Germany, pondering what Russia just said without fear. "And now, we're probably going to get killed, one by one…"

_Oh yeah, that's right…Germany said that and Prussia got kind of mad at him…then what? Ugh, why can't I remember? _Japan thought, trying to figure it out.

"Bruder, I'm sure there are other ways out…" said Prussia, looking up at his brother from his spot on the floor.

_Come on, what am I forgetting? I need to remember…_

"Yeah, you're probably right bruder… And, umm, thank you for saving me earlier. But next time, I won't be such a burden…" said Germany, looking down at his brother.

_Right, he said that…then…_

"Pazzo, listen, everything is going to be okay," said Italy.

"No…I need to work to be more like the rest of you…" said Germany. "I'm sorry…"

"Umm, okay…" said Italy, confused by Germany's behavior. "But, I think we'll be able to get out this time. Because this is the first time that-"

Everyone waited for Italy to finish his sentence, and when he didn't, France said, "Hey, is there something wrong Italy?"

"If…if you get out, don't look back. Don't be mad at me. And time-"

"Hey, Italy, are you actually shaking?" asked Canada, looking at Italy strangely.

_Time…after that line…_

"Italy!" Japan shouted, finally remembering.

Suddenly, one of the things came in right behind Italy, surprising America, who was right next to the door.

"What?!" asked England, also surprised.

"Italy!" Japan called again.

"Hey, this was actually kind of fun…" said Italy.

"Italy!" called Germany.

* * *

**A/N: Wow, this was long…12 pages! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! Oh, and Merry Christmas! Hope you have a good day! **


	8. Chapter VIII: Two More Seconds

"_So, what exactly are you going to tell me Japan?" America asked, wondering why Japan would even want to talk to him really._

"_Well…since you've been locked up in that cell, you…still have a lot of strength left, right?" Japan asked, even though he really didn't want to._

"_Well, yeah, 'course!" said America, inwardly laughing at Japan._

"_Well, in that case…maybe you could try being like your counterpart."_

_America actually laughed a little at this. "What do you mean by that?"_

"_I mean be a hero," mumbled Japan._

"_Well, that's interesting… Go on."_

…

"_Oh, that's too bad! I can't use my power!" said England as he tried to use it._

"_Hey, Iggy," said America._

"_Hmm?"_

"_You said you could stop the thing for two seconds if you summoned up all your magic power, right?"_

"_Well, yes, I can!" said England, confused as to why America was saying this._

"_Could ya maybe try harder?"_

"_Well, yes, but I might pass out! And it would take a lot of concentration! I might be able to do three seconds at most!"_

"_Good."_

"_Why are you suddenly so worried about me?" _

"_Those monsters are strong, and getting stronger. I can't believe I'm saying this, but we need to use all our strength to defeat it, and that includes working together. So anyway, could you be my backup?"_

_England cocked his head to the side before saying, "Well, okay! What's your plan?"_

…

"_Italy could actually be in trouble, and America said we need to be ready to fight right away," said Russia. "This mansion is really getting to them…"_

"_So that's why he said he was looking ahead," said France. "But we're 2Ps, and nations. I don't know why they're worrying that much."_

"_No, this place is different. As long as we're here, we need to think of ourselves as normal humans. In other words, we could die at any time," said Canada._

"_Well, that's a bother," said China, sighing. _

"_Well, I guess it's settled then. We need to be ready to fight at an time, since we don't know where one of those things is going to come from," said Russia._

"_But can't we just use that exit?" asked China._

"_If we can, that'll be our first priority. But I have a feeling we won't be able to get out of here very easily…" said Canada. "And if by any chance we can't use it…"_

"_Then we would know that Italy's in trouble," said France. "By the way, since we know that thing will probably come back, shouldn't we be careful of the doors and such?"_

"_Hmm, true. How about I wait in the closest spot, just in case then," said Russia._

Hmm, Italy dying…I wouldn't really want that, no matter how much I hate him, _thought France._

"_I'll wait in the second closest spot then. Maybe the thing will retreat after seeing me," said France._

"_Then I'll wait in the room after that. If you're killed, I'm sure I could do something," said China._

"_And I'll wait in the room after that. It looks like America is actually working out a strategy. If he decides on anything, I'll spread the word," said Canada._

"_Shall we go back? If it's too bad, they'll come back soon. With results," said Russia._

"_Sure," said Canada._

"_Let's go," said China._

"…_Yeah," said France._

"That kind of hurt…" said America, now standing in front of Italy.

"America?!" Canada exclaimed, surprised that his brother would actually protect someone.

"Wait, don't move," said Russia.

"Hmm…" said France, watching with curiosity.

"Sorry," America said to the thing, "But, even though I don't really like Italy, we need to work together to survive here. You'll just have to settle for a bat!"

The thing suddenly swung at America, and Canada called out, "Dodge America!"

"England!" America called.

"Yup! That bought us some time!" said England before doing one of his spells.

"No way…" said Italy, surprised that they were actually able to stop the thing.

America pushed Italy out of the way before the monster could attack again and then said, "Let's go!"

"Yeah, everyone get your weapons ready and let's attack together…" said Prussia, picking up his sword.

China picked up his knife and said, "I'm ready to go."

"Ha, ahah, haha," England panted, losing his hold on the monster.

"'Kay, Iggy, you can stop now!" called America.

England stopped and started to fall to the floor, lightheaded.

"You…take it…from here!" said England, falling to the floor.

America took his bat and swung it at the thing, making it move back. Italy threw some knives, while China came up and swung his knife at the thing's head. The thing couldn't dodge everything, of course, so they eventually defeated it.

"We defeated it," said Japan, lowering his katana.

"Looks like it…" said Prussia.

"Yeah, of course. Hey, we should help England…" said America, walking over to him.

"Is he okay? That magic he used looked like it took a lot of energy…" said Germany.

"Yeah, he's fine. He just needs to sleep. It would be nice if he had an actual bed, though…" said America.

"Yeah, that's a difficult matter…" said China.

"Okay then. Follow me," said Germany, heading for the door.

"What?" asked Japan, confused by what Germany was saying.

"I've been up there quite a few times, so it should be fine. Remember that thick door on the second floor?" Germany asked Japan.

"Well, yeah, I do," said Japan.

"Let's go there."

"Umm, okay… Let's go then," said Japan, also heading for the door

"Wait, listen!" said Italy.

"Quick. We may have defeated it now, but it's bound to come back," said Germany.

"Uh, yeah…" said Italy. "But, umm, America…thanks…"

"Uhh, you're welcome…" said America, confused by Italy's behavior, as many others were. "But you really should say it with a smile."

Prussia looked at America, confused as to why he would say that, when he suddenly heard snickering.

"CONGRATULATIONS. CONGRATULATIONS. YOU ARE-"

"Shut it!" Prussia suddenly yelled.

"Whoa, whoa!" shouted Russia, surprised that Prussia yelled. "What is it?"

"Oh, uh, didn't you hear that…?" asked Prussia, confused.

"Did something happen?" asked Japan.

"No, just forget it…" said Prussia.

After that, everyone left the room, albeit a little confused, and headed for the second floor. When they reached the room, the lights weren't on, so everyone was tripping over each other.

"Ouch!" said Japan as someone elbowed him in the stomach.

"Who's stepping on my foot?" China asked, trying to lift up his foot.

"And who's on top of me?" Russia asked, his glare being seen and felt through the darkness.

"Ow, that's my hair!" said France, feeling his hair being tugged. "Isn't it a little narrow here? And _dark_?"

"Uh, sorry… There was a switch…right around here… Just a second…" Germany said before finding the switch and turning it on.

Everyone looked around, amazed by the large, spacious room they were in.

"Wow, Germany. Did you find this?" asked Russia, looking around with the others.

"What is this place?" asked China.

"Well, that went over better than I thought…" muttered Germany. "Is everyone here?"

He looked around and, when confirming that everyone was there, said, "It's good that we didn't lose anybody. And that we made it here in time."

"This place is cool bruder. How did you make it?" asked Prussia, still looking around.

"It is pretty cool…" said Italy.

"Yeah, how did you do this?" asked France.

"Ugh…" said England, waking up a little.

"Oh, you're waking up," said America, looking down at him.

"Where am I? And…did we get out?" after looking around the room, England said, "I guess not then…"

"We have a lot to talk about," said Germany, looking over at the now-awake England. "But we need to sleep. We'll sleep first and talk later."

"Sounds good to me," said Prussia, already heading to one of the beds.

"I'm kinda hungry… But I want to sleep first. Let's do some basic first aid first though," said China.

"Hey, America, didn't you get hurt when you hit the thing with your bat?" asked Canada. "Give me your arm and I'll take care of it. Is there a first aid kit somewhere?"

"Yeah, on the shelf in the back. If you're not hurt, just sleep. There's no need to keep watch," said Germany.

"I'm gonna lay down," said Italy.

"Yeah, me too," said Japan. "It's been so long since I lay down…"

Prussia was already in a bed, and fast asleep. When Germany saw this, he rolled his eyes and smiled a little.

"I'm tired too… Goodnight…" said France, walking over to one of the beds and falling asleep.

"I'm going to sleep too…my back kind of hurts…" said China.

After that, everyone went their own ways, so Japan went over to Germany and asked, "Did you do all this on our own?"

"Well, when I found this, it was almost done, so I guess it's correct to say someone else made it," said Germany.

"This room alone must have taken years…" said Japan.

"Yeah, probably," said Germany. "Oh yeah, I just remembered. The room in the back has bathrooms and bathtubs."

"Okay, thanks. I guess I'll go take a bath then."

"Yeah, that'll probably help with the fatigue," said Germany as Japan walked away.

When Japan walked in there, he almost ran into America, who had also taken a bath.

"That felt nice. I was drenched in sweat," he said.

"Yeah… Oh, by the way…thanks for what you did for Italy…" said Japan. "Ever since I broke a clock without thinking about what was true, I became so preoccupied with something else that I didn't think about any plan…"

"Hey, I'm up to anything," said America. "There really is no need to thank me…"

"Yeah, I guess so… But still, good plan. And you told England and the others too."

"Yeah…when we took refuge in that room, England hadn't really said anything. He said he was going to do some spell and that if there wasn't enough time I would have to buy him time. Since there wasn't enough time, I hit the thing with my bat, which gave England enough time to finish his spell and slow down our enemy."

"So that's why you were both in the back. Everyone else also acted pretty quickly. Good thing you told them that plan…"

"Yeah… Hey, have you noticed that Italy seems to be hiding something?"

"Yeah, everyone's probably noticed it by now. I hope he tells us by tomorrow," said Japan.

"I wonder if he will… When he faces that monster, he has a determined face. As if he knows ordinary methods won't work…"

"Yeah, he does… It's as if he knows something we don't…"

"Yes. But he should tell us soon," said Japan, trying to think of what Italy could be hiding.

After talking to America, Japan took a bath and walked out of the bathrooms, feeling refreshed. He saw Canada and walked over to him, deciding to see why he was still up.

"This place is in a really good spot," said Canada.

"Yeah, even those things probably wouldn't guess where we are," said Japan.

"Yeah, I'm really relieved. I'm glad Germany found this place."

"He does look pretty happy."

Japan then walked away from Canada and over to Russia, albeit a little reluctantly.

"It should be interesting to have all of us sleep together," said Russia as Japan walked up.

"Hai…I wonder if we'll be able to survive…"

"I'm sure we'll be fine. We're all too tired to do much right now anyway…" said Russia.

"Right…"

Japan walked around for a while longer before seeing something that startled him a little.

"What are you?" Japan asked the thing on top of the barrel.

"I want it!" it said, not answering Japan's question.

"What…?" Japan wondered, searching his pockets.

"I want it!" it repeated.

"This?" Japan asked, offering it an onigiri.

"I want it!" it repeated.

"How about this?" Japan offered it a small bottle of elixir he had found a while ago.

"Thank you!" it said, grabbing the elixir and disappearing. It left behind a strange-looking key, though.

"Neo-Kyno's key…?" Japan read. "What does that mean?"

Japan pocketed it, deciding to think more about it later. He then walked over to Italy, who was in the kitchen.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to sleep?" Japan asked.

"I'm making something for us to eat for tomorrow morning before the "Cupcake King" wakes up and poisons us all," said Italy.

"Right, good idea. Just…make it good."

"Yeah, I'm not going to kill you off with food."

"Okay. That's…reassuring…"

After that, Japan left the kitchen and went to lay down, soon falling asleep.

"_Prussia, what happened to Japan?" Italy asked as Prussia walked into the room._

"_Well, he sorta died…" said Prussia._

"_Oh…" said China, looking a little sad._

"_So…we're the only ones left now," said Russia._

"_No…" said Italy._

"_Oh dear! We failed again! What are we going to do? Well, at least we have the key this time! Now-"said England before being cut off by Germany._

"_But when we've lost so many? I can't…"_

"_Yeah, there's no point…" said Russia._

"_Yes, let's just leave this key to our next selves! It would be so much easier that way!" said England._

"_I'm sorry…" said Italy._

"_Hmm, what for?" asked Germany._

"_You didn't do anything…" said Prussia._

"_But…it was me… It's my fault… Because…because I-"_

Italy sat up in bed, pulled from the dream.

"A dream…"

_I hate this… Even up here, it's affecting me… _he thought, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. _It's probably because I remember so many things… Maybe it's a backlash? I'm beginning to forget the memories from long ago… When did I first meet Germany? What was the alliance we formed? Didn't I make some sort of promise to someone? Maybe I'll remember if I get out of here? Wait…everyone's breathing, right? Yes, Japan's even moving… Hmm…I didn't know this place existed, and I didn't think I'd still be alive either… But if I've come this far, the next thing to do is…_

The next morning, after everyone had woken up and had something to eat, they held a meeting to talk about everything.

"Well, now that everyone's rested, shall we begin our conference?" Germany asked, looking around the table.

"Sure. I'm full and well rested, so go ahead," said Russia.

"Yeah… Italy's food was pretty good…it didn't kill me…I'm impressed," said China.

"Thanks," said Italy.

"So? Who's going to speak first?" asked France.

"Well, umm…" said Germany, looking around the table.

"America, this all started with a single word from you, but you really have nothing to do with the thing, right?" asked Canada, looking at his brother. "It's safe to say that it's just a coincidence that it looks like Tony, right?"

"You think Tony and that thing look alike? I don't think they do…oh well… But I definitely have nothing to do with this," said America.

"Really? If you're to believe we're all in trouble…" said Prussia.

"What did you say?" America asked, glaring at Prussia.

"Nothing…" he mumbled.

"Hmm…" said America, still glaring at Prussia a little. "I'm just surprised you don't all blame me."

"Hmm?" Japan asked, looking at America.

"It's pretty much my fault we're all here right now. If I hadn't bugged you about coming here, none of this would've happened," said America.

Italy just stayed quiet, not wanting anyone to blame him.

"I thought you'd blame me more. But I guess you can all get mad at me now," said America, sitting back in his seat a little.

"America…" said Japan.

"Heh… Is that really what you think?" asked China.

"You're really quite stupid! Stop saying that nonsense!" said England.

"Yeah…this may have started with a word from you, but we all went along with it," said Canada.

"Oui… We could have chosen not to come, but we didn't," said France.

"You laid out the rails, and we chose to walk on them. It's not really your fault," said Russia.

"Well, okay, if you say so," said America.

"That's why we need to work together. By joining forces like we never have, we'll make it through," said Germany.

"Hey!" said Italy, finally deciding to speak up.

"What?" asked Germany.

"Well, umm… Can you listen to me? There's something I need to tell everyone…" said Italy.

"Uh, sure, go ahead," said Japan.

"Then can you come with me to the basement? If we're not there, I feel like I can't talk…" said Italy.

"The basement? Can't you just talk up here?" asked Prussia, not wanting to move from the one safe spot they had.

"It's really important, so please. I feel like I'll only be able to talk if I'm there," said Italy.

"Well, okay… But before we go there, I want to go somewhere else," said Germany.

"And where is that?" asked England.

"The cave with the burnt out ladder. I saw something lying on the ground but I couldn't pick it up at the time."

"All right. Let's go then," said Japan.

"Yeah, thanks…" said Italy, getting up from his seat.

After that, everyone else got up too and left the safe room, a little reluctantly. Once they had gotten downstairs to the room right before the cave, Prussia, England, China, and Japan decided to stay behind in that room, just to be safe. Everyone else went on to the cave. Germany was looking around for whatever it was he was trying to find, but it didn't seem like he could find it.

"What is it Germany?" asked Japan.

"Nothing… But…I just wanted to remove the obstacle that made me fall yesterday," said Germany.

"Ah, good idea. Someone else cold trip over it," said Japan.

"Yeah, exactly. But…I can't find a single misplaced stone or vine," said Germany, still looking around.

"What? Well, that's weird. It's like some horror movie," said America.

"Well, it is kind of dark here. Are you sure you looked properly?" asked Russia.

"Ja. I'm sure it was tight here, but there's nothing…" said Germany, looking at the ground in front of him. "There's no stone, no vine, nothing. You could even say there was nothing there to begin with."

_That's right… _thought Italy, looking at the ground, deep in thought. _Even if we looked around where Germany didn't fall, we wouldn't find anything. But when he fell, there was something entwined around his foot that wouldn't let him move. It's as if-_

Italy's thoughts were cut off as France voiced them. "It's as if someone tripped you and wouldn't let you move."

"Well… I only assumed it was a vine, but now that I think about it… It felt like someone had grabbed my ankle…" said Germany, shuddering a little at the memory.

"Okay, there's nothing here, let's just go," said America, a little bit annoyed about being dragged into this situation.

"Grabbed…" said Russia, completely ignoring America. "Like a hand sprang up from the earth and grabbed your ankle…"

"And tried to drag you into the earth…" said France.

"Okay, that's enough!" said Germany, nervously looking around. "It could've just been my imagination anyway. And there's nothing odd here, so let's just leave it at that."

"Right," said Japan, rolling his eyes at Germany's cowardice. "Now let's go to the place where Italy wanted to talk to us."

"Hm? Oh, right, sorry," said Italy, being dragged out of his thoughts by Japan. "It's the cell where Prussia and the others were. That's where I want to go."

"Okay. So let's just go to that room and forget about everything that happened here, alright?" said Japan, trying to please the people who were scared.

"R-Right…" said Germany, knowing that Japan's last comment was meant for him.

As everyone was leaving, Germany stayed behind, waiting for Italy to pass him.

"What have you been looking for?" he asked, noticing that Italy had been looking at the floor for a long while during their conversation.

"Huh? Oh, nothing that concerns you…" said Italy, surprised that Germany noticed.

"Oh? What's this?" Germany wondered aloud as he bent down to pick up a piece of metal.

"Oh!" said Italy, looking at the piece of metal in Germany's hand.

"Ah, so this is what I saw. It might come in handy later, so I think I'll take it with me," said Germany pocketing the piece of metal.

"Right…" said Italy, disappointed that Germany had kept it for himself.

After that, Germany and Italy left the room and went to the room with the cell. Everyone else was standing around, surprisingly calmly, waiting for the other two.

"Before I say anything, I have a favor to ask you. You see, there's a box inside the cell…" said Italy, looking into the cell.

"Yeah, what about it?" asked China, also looking at the box.

"Could you open it for me? I've tried…but I can't…" said Italy.

"Then I'll go open it, weakling," muttered America, walking into the cell.

"Ha, I'm going too," said China, following America.

"Might as well get it over with…" said France, following the other two into the cell.

When they reached the box in the corner of the cell, Canada asked, "What's in that box anyways?"

"Uhh…hope?" suggested Italy, since he didn't know what was in it.

Canada tilted his head to the side a little, confused by Italy's answer.

"Okay, this box just won't open!" said America, standing up and giving it a kick just to prove his point.

"Oh, come now! It can't be that hard! Let me try!" said England, walking into the cell.

"I'll go too…" said Prussia, waking up from the little nap he had taken and following England.

"Maybe it has some sort of lock on it?" suggested Russia, also walking into the cell.

Canada also followed, wanting to know what the big fuss was over just a simple box.

"I'll try too," said Germany, about to follow the others in, when Italy suddenly stopped him.

"What is it?" asked Germany as Japan walked past him into the cell.

"You found something, right? It might be some kind of clue? Could I see it?" asked Italy.

"You mean this?" asked German, pulling the piece of metal from his pocket. "I don't think it's much, but okay."

Germany then gave the piece of metal to Italy.

"Thank you," said Italy, suddenly pushing Germany into the cell.

"Wha- Italy!" said Germany, surprised only because Italy had actually been acting a little nicer than usual.

"Italy?" asked Japan as Italy closed and locked the cell door.

"Ehi, America, why don't you say it?" Italy said, turning away from the cell.

"Uhh, Italy…" said America, not really wanting to say anything.

"C'mon, in front of everyone. Who lured them all here?"

"What are you talking about?" asked China, looking at Italy confusedly.

"America?" Russia questioned, looking expectantly at America.

"Oh, and by the way, that box is empty. Haha, sorry~" said Italy while walking towards the door, waving his hand as he started to leave the room.

"Umm, what's going on? What's the meaning of this?" Canada asked angrily, not letting Italy go that easily.

"My little Alfie! What are you hiding from us?" asked England, looking expectantly at America.

"Well, aren't you going to say it?" asked Italy, also looking at America expectantly. "Try reading the atmosphere."

America looked at Italy with rage in his eyes. He hated being compared to his idiot counterpart, especially now, of all times.

"Italy! Open this door!" said Germany, trying to open the door.

"But if I open it, all of you will try to kill me," said Italy.

"Pleas, Italy!" said Germany, still trying to open the door.

"Italy…" said Prussia, looking at him curiously.

"Fine, if you aren't going to say it, then I will. You see, I'm the one who told him the rumors about this place," said Italy.

"What?" asked France, confused.

"I'm the one who told America about this place, and then America went and told all of you about it and ask you to come check it out."

America stayed silent, anger burning in his eyes.

"Then…" said Japan, connecting the pieces.

"Right. It wasn't America who started it, because I'm the one who told him in the first place. That's why you're all here now," said Italy, looking at everyone inside of the cell.

"Wait, you told him?" asked Prussia, sitting up a little. "You're kidding, right? Why?"

"No reason in particular. I heard the rumors about this place and decided to tell America about it," said Italy nonchalantly, waving his hand a little.

"Then why did you lock us up in here?" asked France.

"Because you would get in the way, idiota. You'd gang up on me and ruin all my plans. So just stay in there for a while, 'kay?"

"Oh, but we won't just stay in here! I can just-" said England before trying to use his magic. "Oh, it doesn't work because time is stopped! That's too bad!"

"Ah, that's right. Thank you for that," said Italy, watching England with amusement showing in his eyes. "Well, I guess I'll be going now. And thank you for finding this for me, Germany. And you too, America. Thanks for everything~"

"You really should have learnt how to smile a little more naturally," said America, staring hard at Italy.

Italy stared back at America, surprised by his comment.

"Did you forget what we said yesterday? The one who laid out the rails was you," said America, continuing the staring contest with Italy. "And I chose to run on them. I could've chosen not to, but I didn't. No one thinks it's your fault…yet…"

"Please Italy! Just open the stupid door and let us out of here! I'm sure we can all work together and get out of this mansion!" said Japan, looking at Italy.

"No, we can't," said Italy, looking at the ground.

"Italy!" shouted Germany, looking at Italy with pleading eyes.

"I'll tell you one more thing," said Italy, not looking up from the ground. "The thing is after me. That's why it'll always target and attack me first, no matter how many of us are gathered. That's why I tried to keep close to the doors, even if it was a little pointless…"

_Yeah, he would sometimes step away from us, _thought Japan, looking at Italy.

"This ends here. This is the last time," said Italy, desperately wanting that to be true. "If I come back…do whatever you want… …I'll deserve it…"

After that, Italy walked out of the room with Germany still at the door yelling, "Italy! Please, come back and open this door!"

"Italy!" shouted Japan angrily, staring helplessly at the door Italy had just exited through.

* * *

**A/N: Aaand…done! I finally finished this one! I started it a while ago, but then my computer wasn't working (DX) and then I had a LOTR party last night! That was pretty fun! Wait… One does not simply watch one Lord of the Rings movie. Haha, okay, I just had to do that…cuz we watched all three LOTR movies in one day. So yeah, a little LOTR fangirling right now! XD *gasps* And and and and and… 3 WEEKS! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! XD All Hetalia fangirls will know what I mean…for we have reawakened…**


	9. Chapter IX: Phone Calls

"Well, they sure looked like they were about to kill me. Tch, not surprising though," said Italy as he walked out of the cell room. Suddenly, his phone started to ring, and he jumped a little at the almost-foreign sound. "My phone? Who is it, I wonder? And how can they call me?" Italy saw the caller ID and sighed before answering the phone. "Ciao, Roma-"

"Fratello, what took you so long to answer~?" asked Romano from the other side of the phone.

"What? Is it really you?!" Italy couldn't hide his surprise after he heard Romano's voice. "But…how? You are Romano, right?"

"Of course it's me Ita~ Spain, wait, you can talk to him later!" said Romano.

"Spain too?" whispered Italy incredulously. "But…it can't be true."

"I don't know what you're talking about fratello, but listen-" Romano stopped before asking, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," stuttered Italy, still cherishing his brother's voice on the other end. "But hey, could you fill in for me at work tomorrow?"

"Wha?"

"Tomorrow, and the day after, and forever. Can you?"

After a long pause, Romano said, "No, fratello."

"Roma-"

"I don't know what's wrong Ita, but it's your job! Just…please come back soon!" said Romano, obviously missing his brother. "An… …real… …well… …ly…"

"Romano? I can't hear you, Romano?!" Italy asked into the phone, desperately wanting to hear more of his brother's voice. It had been so long since he had heard it, so, so long…

"It got cut off…" Italy said, disappointed. "Wow, their voices. It's been so long…so, so long… I wish I could get out of this cursed mansion and go home…"

…

"Aww, it got cut off! At least I got to talk to him, though~" said Romano, standing in front of the mansion. "Oh, I hope he's okay! He didn't sound like himself! And Spain and the others are taking so long to get here! I wonder where they are…"

Romano stood there looking up at the mansion for a while, thinking about that phone call.

"Fratello… I'm coming."

…

Italy walked away from the cell room and into the caves where the ladder was. When he walked to the base of it, he said, "No, I didn't hide it here after all. Ugh, where did I put it again? Third floor maybe…? No, maybe not. I just need to calm down and think. There was another that I hid with America, then…umm…"

"I found you fratelloooooo~" Romano shouted down to his brother.

Italy jumped back, eyes wide. "Wh-what?" He looked up to the top of the ladder and could see Romano and Spain standing there, looking down at him. "Romano… Why?"

"Good thing the front door wasn't opening! Otherwise I never would've found you! What have you been doing fratello?" Romano called down, a grin on his face.

"Italy, there you are," said Spain, also sounding a little happy. "You shouldn't be there alone. Where are the others?"

"What are you doing here?" Italy demanded, thinking of what could happen if they stayed. "No one asked you to come!"

"Oh yeah, what did you do with all the clocks? Did you break them all?" Romano asked.

Italy stared at his brother, confused yet cautious. "How did you know?"

"You know fratello~ Now, did you break the last clock?"

"But…you shouldn't know about that. You shouldn't even be here!" shouted Italy, a little panicked.

"Romano, I know you're happy to see him, but don't get too excited," Spain whispered to Romano.

"Fratello, I'm coming down there right now! So don't move!" shouted Romano, seemingly ignoring Spain.

"NO!" shouted Italy, looking down at the ground with his hair covering his eyes (You know what I'm talking about). "Don't come down here, no matter what! Just go home! And…what are you doing here? How did you know about the clocks?!"

"Say my name~"

Italy looked up at his brother, confused. "Romano…"

"Nope! Say my full name~"

"Uhh, Italy Romano…" said Italy, now slightly getting it.

"Yup! I'm Italy too! I don't know everything you remember, but I do plan on helping you by carrying part of your burden on my shoulders," said Romano. "You haven't been alone all this time! Now, you've broken some clocks, si?"

"Well yeah, but…"

"The flow of time got fixed, which is why we were able to get here," said Spain, looking curiously down at Italy. "But not just us. The others also agreed to help, for reasons unknown."

"And I _finally _found you! I've been trying for ages but just couldn't find you! On top of that, the phone wouldn't work, and sometimes I felt these weird shocks, like half of me had disappeared, every single time-"

_I wasn't able to bear it, _thought Italy. _That's why several of my memories flowed to him and he came looking for us… But why did they have to come here, why? Even if something happens to me, my brother is here- No. I've already had too much of the first time and I'm just getting confused. I don't know what to do here…_

"Fratello?"

"Sorry Romano, but I have to go. So please, just go home!" said Italy before he swiftly turned around and walked away from the ladder, soon disappearing into the shadows.

"Wait, fratello!" shouted Romano, trying to climb down the ladder.

"Wait Romano, let me try going down the ropes first, okay?" said Spain, walking up to the ladder.

"Wait, are you sure the ladder is safe? You can't really see the bottom very well…"

"I think it's okay. I can't see it very well either, but oh well," said Spain before climbing down the ladder. "Besides, it seems perfectly fine. The ropes aren't even rotten…" Spain was cut off as he fell from the bottom of the burnt ladder to the ground.

"Spagna! Are you okay?" Romano asked worriedly.

Spain winced a little before saying, "The ropes are burnt halfway down. I hadn't noticed."

"Hey!" shouted Romano, hearing the hurt in Spain's voice.

"Romano?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm…kind of glad Italia is all right," said Spain, looking up at Romano through the darkness.

"Me too~" said Romano.

"I'll go see if I can find a substitute for the ladder. You just wait there, okay?"

"All right~ Don't take too long though, or I'll just come down this ladder anyway!" said Romano. "Oh, and be careful!"

"Right, thanks. Okay, I'll be right back, so you just wait there."

Spain then walked out of the strange tunnels and into a small room. He exited the room and walked down the hallway. When he came to the intersection, he decided to go forward. The room he walked into surprised him.

…

"It's no use, my sword can't cut the bars!" Japan shouted angrily, swinging his sword at said bars just to prove his point.

"I guess using brute strength doesn't work. I don't know what Italy was going to do, but we really should go help him," said Russia, standing near the bars with his stolen sword cane in hand.

"But we can't get out unless someone opens it for us from the outside," Canada said, standing near Russia with his hockey stick.

"Yes, but everyone's in here! We all walked into his little trap!" England shouted in dismay, chewing on a cupcake.

"Uhh…" said America, not even wanting to know where that cupcake had come from. "So, what are we going to do? If no one shows up…"

"What?" Spain shouted, quickly walking up to the bars. "What's going on? What are you doing in there?"

"Someone showed up…" said China, relieved.

"Tch, what is this, a world zoo?" Spain asked sarcastically.

"I can't believe it…" said France. "Is he real?"

"Oh yeah, do you have a ladder or something. Roma-"

"Spain, please open this door!" Germany shouted in desperation.

"Wait, what do you mean? Didn't Italia come this way?" asked Spain, confused.

"We'll explain this later! Just open this door, baka!" shouted Japan.

…

"First I'll look for another metal piece. I remember where it's hidden, and maybe if I look for them one by one, I'll remember more," said Italy after he had exited the basement.

Italy then headed away from the basement door and to the stair, walking up and going to the other side of the hallway. He walked through the doorway across from their previous safe room and walked to the middle.

"Was it here?" he wondered aloud. "I've finally gotten everyone together, so I'll definitely get them to escape this time. …Or else I'll be confined to a world where I'm all alone…even if it does sort of sound nice… And even though I tried to help a little, they still wouldn't trust me." He paused for a moment, thinking. "If I went back now, I wonder if they would kill me. Or maybe they would just yell at me a lot and somehow forgive me. I'd have to explain my reasons first, or else they would definitely kill me." Italy paused again as something suddenly dawned on him. "All this time…all this time…me…with them…from here…"

The door opened loudly behind Italy. He spun around, knives instantly appearing in his hands as he faces the giant monster.

"Tch…" he said as the thing started to walk forward, pushing him back against the wall. "Crap!"

…

"Oh, why would my fratello do that?" wondered Romano, looking down at the countries assembled below him.

"You already understand what's going on?" France asked. "All we said was that Italy had locked us up and left on his own."

"I don't quite get it either, but it looks like he shares some memories with Italia," said Spain.

"Wait, so does that mean he understands the situation better than we do?" asked Canada.

"Hey Spain, did you find something to get me down there?" Romano asked, still looking down at the others.

"Oh, lo siento Romano. I forgot."

"We don't have time for this!" said Japan. "We'll go off to look for Italy and leave France here with-"

"No, I can't wait! I'm coming down!" shouted Romano, worry for his brother filling his eyes as he descended the ladder.

"Wait, Ro-"

Romano fell off the end of the ladder right into Spain's arms.

"-mano…" finished Spain, now looking at Romano.

"You okay?" Prussia asked, pretty well rested from their stay in the cell.

"Yeah, I think so," said Romano, getting out of Spain's arms and carefully standing.

"Nice catch dude," said America, looking at Spain.

"Let's split into two groups to search for Italy. We'll start from the basement.

"Okay… We'll go after fratello…too…" said Romano slowly.

"You feeling okay? You're going in the wrong direction!" said England, trying to guide Romano in the right direction.

After they had made sure Romano was okay, they left the caves and walked back upstairs after searching around the basement. When they had reached upstairs, they looked into every room before finally reaching the one with Italy in it.

"EEK!" screeched Romano when he saw the giant monster in front of him.

"What…?" Prussia said, looking incredulously at the monster.

Italy was panting hard behind the monster, bloody knives in his hands, facing the thing.

"Italy?" Japan asked, looking worriedly at said nation.

"Italy!" said Germany, also looking a little worried.

"Heh, you found me," Italy said as the monster disappeared. "Oh…"

Italy then fell to the floor, unmoving.

"Italy!" Germany said again.

Everyone quickly ran up to Italy, staring down at his bruised and bloody body.

"Wh-wh-why didn't you run?!" stuttered Romano, close to tears when he saw his brother. "You should have run when you saw that giant monster! Even you know it's almost impossible to defeat something that big!"

"But…that wouldn't have saved everyone. So that's why I did everything I could to defeat it."

"Hey, Italy, can you move? Take slow breaths…" Prussia instructed, staring worriedly at the nation.

"We can still save him! If you bring me bandages now, I can still save him!" shouted Japan, looking around the room for something to help.

"Just stop!" shouted Romano, now crying. "Why do you always have to do things alone? Just look around you! Oh Italy, when you wake up, you have to think more before you act!"

"Oh…but…when I wake up…I'll be…" Italy said dazedly. "Oh…but I'm…so tired… And it really…hurts… What am I going to do? I haven't yet…"

Italy's eyes closed, and Romano quickly grabbed his hand to check his pulse.

"Italy… Oh good, he's still breathing," said Prussia, looking at Romano's equally relieved face.

"Let's go back to our safe place," Japan said tiredly. "Prussia, you go get the others. Germany, you carry him. Romano, you can help tend his injuries."

"Yeah…sorry…" said Romano, looking down at his brother.

"Did Italy…actually defeat that giant monster all by himself?" Prussia asked before carrying out Japan's orders.

"He's severely injured! Lets' just hurry up!" said Germany, picking Italy up.

…

To the me…  
To the me who lives at some point in time…  
…and who isn't alone…

…

Everyone quickly carried out their tasks and were soon in the safe room.

"He's covered in injuries," Germany said worriedly.

"Well, he did fight alone. It's only natural," said France.

"I heard that it was much bigger than before, but that…he wasn't surprised at all, was he?" Canada questioned.

"You mean he already knew? Or…" Russia wondered aloud.

"We should think…that he's already seen it many times before," said China.

"I agree. That would explain his strange emotional strength and why he got used to fighting that thing. I don't think it's something he had from the very beginning," said Japan.

"It feels like something that accumulated and then finally took shape. But we can't really be sure. We'll have to hear it from his own mouth," said America.

"What can we do then? We can't just demand that he tells us everything as soon as he wakes up. You know he would never do that…" said Prussia.

"But if we don't ask him we'll never know, now will we? I think we should at least try, even if it does prove to be fruitless!" said England.

"I disagree. If we approach him when he's already so weary, he'll only get annoyed and possibly try to kill us," said France.

"So you want us to keep going like this, with us in the dark and only him in danger? I think we should at least try," said China, glaring a little in France's direction.

"But…have you seen his face? I don't think he'll tell us anything that easily. Why don't we wait a little before asking him," said Russia.

"But, a little? How long would we have to wait exactly? We don't have much time left. If it's the only way, even with the threat of him killing us-" Canada said before being cut off by America.

"You know something, don't you Romano?" asked America, glaring pointedly in said nation's direction. "Can't you tell us?"

"Romano?" asked Spain, looking worriedly at him.

After a long pause, Romano said, "I do know. I don't know everything, but I know more than you."

"Then…" said Prussia, waiting for Romano to continue.

"But knowing the truth, I also understand mio fratello's decision. I can't just tell you something that he's so desperate to hide~"

"But this isn't just about him; there are other peoples' lives at stake! What are we supposed to do now?" England asked no one in particular.

"Sorry, I don't know either," said Romano, having one of those dramatic hair moments.

"Come on guys, go easy on him. I don't know what to do either, but you don't need to be so harsh. Give him a little break," said Spain.

"Germany, what do you think? Should we interrogate him, or wait until he's ready to talk? I want your opinion~" said Romano, looking at said German.

Germany was silent for a long while, still thinking.

"Germany?" Japan asked, looking at him along with everyone else.

"I…I just want him to wake up first…" said Germany a little awkwardly. "More than to interrogate him or to wait, I want him to wake up… And then, if he wants to talk, I'll listen, but if he doesn't, I won't ask anything. I think we should try trusting him, just this once."

"Yeah… Even Italy's learned something, right? When he waked up, his opinion will be important," said Prussia.

"Hai. Let's just wait for him to wake up now," said Japan.

After w few moment's silence, Germany said, "Oh, w-wait!"

Japan looked at him questioningly.

"He's going to wake up~!" said Romano.

"Oh, he's awake," said Russia after another moment's pause.

"Hey, are you okay?" England asked, looking down into Italy's face.

"Finally…" said Japan, silently relieved. "Italy, do you know where you are?"

Italy stared groggily up at everyone, staying silent.

"Hey, fratello!" said Romano, looking at his brother.

"What's wrong?" asked China.

"Italy? What's wrong?" asked Prussia.

Italy croaked out the word,"…are…"

Germany looked at him questioningly before saying, "I'm sorry Italy, I couldn't hear you. Could you repeat that?"

"Who…are…you?" Italy asked slowly, looking at all the faces surrounding his bed.

Germany stared down at him, panicking a little.

…

Ita…ly?

* * *

**A/N: Yay, Spain and Romano entered! XD But…Italy had to fight that giant monster! DX That was so sad! WAH! Anyway, reaching the end of the highest version I could get, cuz my computer wouldn't let me download the next one…and I think I might be doing something wrong too…but anyway, I'll be entering new territory after this! From the preview at the end of my version, it looks really sad! DX And the whole England not being able to see thing too! WAHAHA! D'X Ahem, anyway, review! **


	10. Chapter X: Blood

_The only thing I remember vividly, to the point I can't breathe, is when we first came here.  
Even while everyone was trying to think of a way to escape, I did nothing to help…  
I had to be protected like my idiot counterpart…  
Meanwhile, everyone else was getting hurt.  
And I was alone.  
One after the other, they lost their lives right before my eyes._

…

_Japan was lying on the floor, panting and covered in blood._

"_I'm sorry. It looks like I'm going to die," he said, looking up at Italy._

"_No, you're not. I'm sure I can make bandages out of something to stop the bleeding," said Italy, looking around the room._

"_No… No, it's hopeless. There is no time. Please, just leave me here and go back to the others," said Japan, curiously watching Italy. "Fortunately, they've forgotten…that I ever came here. Just…leave me…"_

"_But I can't do that. I'll make bandages right now. Just hold on," said Italy, trying to wrap his jacket around Japan._

"_Italy."_

"_What?"_

"_Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to save me?"_

"_I…I don't know," said Italy, looking down at the blood on the ground before realizing that he could barely hear Japan anymore. "No wait, I'll do anything. Just hold on a little longer!"_

"_Italy, you're acting strangely kind. But even though my eyes are dulled, I know that you're lying," said Japan, looking at Italy. "It's so…frustrating… Till the end, I wanted us to get…out…together…"_

…

"_Sorry. This is where I fall," said China._

"_I'm glad that we could make…a new breach, at least," said Russia, pausing due to his wounds._

"_Come on Italy, just go. If you stay, that monster is going to show up again," said France._

"_But…" said Italy, looking down at the ground so the others couldn't see his face._

"_Prussia, will you take care of Italy? He's been acting a little strange lately," said France again, looking past Italy and to Prussia._

"_Ah…ja, I'll do it," said Prussia, confused as to why he had to take care of one of the strongest nations in the group._

"_France?" Italy asked. But France's eyes had closed, and his breathing was slowly stopping._

"_Go on. Don't let our efforts be in vain. You seem to be so slow on the uptake," said Russia, red eyes staring up at Italy._

"_If you stay here, you'll only get in the way and die too. Just go away, quickly," said China._

"_Come on Italy, let's get out of here," said Prussia, a hint of fear in his voice._

_Italy turned away from the three nations and followed Prussia to the door. But he paused for a moment just before going out, looking back at the scene, before exiting the room._

"_You really are perfect for the role of villain," said China, looking over at Russia._

"_You're quite the actor yourself," said Russia._

"_Oh yeah, I have to find…Japan…quickly… I got all sluggish here and forgot again…" said China._

"_China?" Russia asked, looking over at his now slumped form. "Heh, even in this place…I'm all alone yet again…"_

…

"_We'll be fine, so just get out of here and get us reinforcements or something," said America, standing near the bed England and Canada were lying on._

"_But in the meantime, even you will get hurt beyond help-" said Italy before being stopped by America._

"_It's fine. Besides, I…want to do these two a favor…and…stay by them…" mumbled America, looking over at the two on the bed._

"_America…" said Italy, also looking at the bed._

"_Heh, no that isn't it… They can't hear me anymore, so I'll tell you in all honesty, since I'm going to die soon anyways… I want to stay with them. Till my last moment. Because they really are both very important to me," said America, looking both sad and awkward._

"_And because you're…actually going to protect me…" said Italy, looking confusedly at America._

"_Well…yeah…even though I can't move anymore. But I'm not making a mistake. And I regret nothing," said America._

_Italy looked at America after he said this, surprised by the usually harsh nation's answer._

"_Go on. I…wish you luck," America said a little awkwardly before roughly pushing Italy towards the door._

…

"_We got back the key," said Prussia._

"_Hey, it's fine. We risked our lives and went through so much trouble to get it back. Shouldn't you be a little happier?" asked Germany, staring over at Italy._

"_Why did you lie?" Italy asked, anger in his voice. "You said you were just going to look around…"_

"_Yeah, well, it's probably for the same reason that you didn't tell us everyone else was dead," said Germany, pointedly looking at Italy._

"_Wait, so you knew?" Italy asked incredulously._

"_Hey, bruder, why don't we take a little rest? I'm really tired," said Prussia._

"_You're always tired bruder. Just go ahead and sleep. I will soon," said Germany._

"_Wait, no! I can't do this anymore!" shouted Italy, hands gripping the sides of his head. "I'm staying with you!"_

"_Italy…you'll be fine. You're…the strongest…out of any of us…" said Germany reassuringly. _

"_C'mon, Italy…you had better…hurry up…" said Prussia._

_Italy stared at the ground for a moment more, almost losing his sanity before saying, "You're right. I-I can do this. I know I'll be fine." Italy took a shaky breath before looking up and saying, "I have to be strong."_

_Prussia slumped forward a little as his breathing stopped._

"_Prussi-"_

_Germany followed his brother soon after._

"_Ger…ma…ny…"_

…

_Even when I followed different paths, no matter what I did, they still left me.  
If only I hadn't heard those rumors…  
If only I hadn't told America.  
No, this is no good. I just have to try harder.  
What was I supposed to say next again? Whose life was going to be in danger next again? What…do I have to do next?  
How many more times will I be allowed to make mistakes?  
How many more times will I have to tell the same lies?  
How many more times will I have to watch everyone die?  
I made them so many promises. But when we met next, they had forgotten all about them. We had actually learned to get along, but when we met next, they were all back to normal.  
I don't want them to forget though. What can I do? What do I have to do? How can I get them all out of here?  
Heh…it's hopeless. It feels like my head is going to burst…  
I want to try harder…and harder…but…I'm so very tired…_

…

"How is he?" China asked.

"He's in the bath right now. Romano is looking after him," said Japan, looking towards the bathrooms.

"Hey, maybe he has amnesia?" suggested Canada.

"No, it looked like something a little different to me!" said the somehow still-cheery Brit.

"It's sort of similar to what I was like when we had just broken a clock," said Japan, trying to help.

"Hmm? Whaddya mean?" Prussia asked drowsily, slumped over in a chair.

"When we break a clock, he gets a lot of strange memories and they get all mixed up," said France, puffing on one of the few cigarettes he had left.

"That's right. Italy also had so many memories that they pushed him to the limit both physically and mentally," said Japan. "His mind was saturated with them. If he gets any more, he will just reject them."

"Reject what?" asked China, who had only heard the last part of what Japan had said.

"The memories themselves. That's how it usually is. But Italy still tried somehow and…the line turned into dots," said America.

"So you mean all his memories are scattered about? And if he tries thinking about them, they will come back in time?" asked Germany.

"Yes, and the proof of that is that he immediately…if tentatively…called my name," said Japan.

"Tentatively? What do you mean by that?" asked Spain.

"Well, uhh…"

But before Japan could finish his sentence, Italy and Romano walked out of the bathrooms, Italy's hair a little damp.

"Sorry to keep you waiting~" said Romano, somehow keeping up his cheery attitude.

"No, it's fine. You were pretty quick. You feeling a little better now Italy?" asked America, looking worriedly at the dazed-looking Italian.

"Uh, y-yes sir. Sorry about that. My head feels a lot better and I am feeling fine now," said Italy, not even focusing on America.

"'Sir'? Hey Italy, you do know who I am, right?" asked Prussia, waking up from his doze.

"Of course. He is Mr. Japan, you are Mr. Prussia, and he is…" Italy said while dazedly pointing at who he named.

Germany looked at Italy confusedly as he stopped talking.

"Hol-"

"Hm?"

"Oh, n-no…Mr…Germany," said Italy, holding his head as he struggled to remember.

"Italy? What's wrong with you?" Germany worriedly asked.

"Hmm… Doesn't it feel like he's talking sort of like when he was still un niño? What happened?" asked Spain.

"Well, his memories are still kind of jumbled and he's a little confused. He just needs some time, okay~?" Romano said, not taking his eyes off his brother when he was talking.

"Of course. Take your time," said Russia, who also looked a little worriedly at the out of character Italian.

"Y-Yes sir. I'm…sorry," said Italy.

"And you stay with him Romano," said Japan.

"Hey, wait! I've been thinking all this time, and I think I maybe should tell you after all…" said Romano.

"Wait, wait! I appreciate the sentiment, but we really shouldn't have told you to talk without considering Italy's feelings!" said England.

"And besides, it's still all right. You just take care of your frère. If there's really no other way, we'll ask you again," said France.

"That's right. There are many other things we have to solve. Maybe he will remember something while we're having a meeting. We can wait," said Canada.

"I see… All right. Fratello, go to sleep~ You're tired, come here!" said Romano, starting to usher Italy over to the beds.

"B-but…" Italy started to protest.

"It's all right. If there's no other way, we'll ask you. Until then, go to sleep," said Germany.

"Okay…" said Italy, letting Romano help him to bed.

"He's so…worn out," said France, watching Italy's retreating back.

"Yeah, he probably pushed himself too hard already. He must have kept telling himself that he had to try harder and harder to protect us," said Russia.

"Now let's think about what would be the best course of action," said Japan.

"Yeah, good idea. Hey, Germany, I've been wondering…what was that thing you gave to Italy?" asked America.

"You mean right before he got me into that cell? It was a piece of metal I found in the cave. Incidentally, Italy dropped it after he fought that monster and now I have it with me again," said Germany.

"Judging by the way he acted, it must be something necessary to escape. Even though it looks like an ordinary piece of metal…" said Canada.

"Maybe it's some sort of key?" suggested Spain.

"Key? But keys aren't usually shaped like this," said France, pointing to the piece of metal Germany was holding in his hand.

"Yeah, that's the point. In other words, the keyhole is hidden también," said Spain.

"But there couldn't be a keyhole where this metal piece could fit," said Prussia, staring intently at the piece of metal.

"We must have missed it. Weren't there any places that made you feel uneasy?" asked China.

"Yes…and no! I mean, there were so many places that made me feel uneasy that I've forgotten about some of them!" said England.

"In that case, we'll have to search the mansion again," said America, a little annoyed.

"Okay. So let's split into two groups: one to stand by and the other to search around," said Japan.

"I'm fine with either one! But…Italy must be hungry! So maybe I should cook something for him!" said England, already heading towards the kitchen.

"Hey, England, let's search together!" said Japan, knowing that the leftover cupcakes England made were going to be for the rest of them.

"What? But the food-" England started to wail, desperately wanting a fresh cupcake.

"I'll stay! France, you can stay too!" said China quickly, cutting England off.

"Of course. So the kitchen is full now. You can search around with the others!" France said, also wanting to avoid being poisoned.

"I'll stay too. I'm feeling kind of tired…" said Prussia, already stumbling over to one of the beds.

"Does anyone else care?" America asked, looking around the group. "Okay, then Russia, Canada, Japan, and England will search with me. The others will stand by."

"All right. Let's have a thorough search," said Canada.

The five nations that were sent to search then left the safe room and headed downstairs to the basement. After searching around there for a while, they went into the cell room.

"Oh? What happened everyone?" asked Japan.

"Italy said there was hope in this box, remember? What did he mean?" asked Russia, looking down at said box.

"If he was doing that for our sake, he must have deliberately arranged a hope to escape when he locked us in that cell," said Canada.

"He also said the box was empty, though. Maybe it was just a trick to lock us up," argued America.

"Probably. It makes no sound when we shake it," said Japan, shaking it to prove his point.

"Hm? Wait a minute, this is odd!" said England, looking down at the box.

"Odd? What do you mean?" asked Japan.

"Oh, sorry! You wouldn't get it, but this has some of my magic too! What…?" England said as he felt along the sides of the box.

"Your magic? You mean this belongs to you?" Canada asked, confused.

"Nope! Here, give me a minute! I can lift this spell!" said England using some of his magic to lift it.

"Hm, it made a sound. Let's try opening it?" suggested Russia.

"Hmm, I wonder what it is? I hope it'll help us," said America.

… …_the… …y_

"Hm?" America said while looking around the room.

There was a bright flash of light, and then a transparent England was standing near the doorway.

"What?!" Russia shouted, looking at the other England in surprise.

"E-England?!" asked Canada in surprise.

… …_and… …it!_

"What's going on? Why am I there?!" England wailed in confusion, looking at his see-through double.

"Shut up! He's saying something!" said Japan.

_My…my future self who is watching this! There is no time to explain much! If by any chance Italy dies, find the journal! In return, you'll get his memories as well as my life! Go back without fail! Go back in time! Sa… …Italy… …_

After that, the transparent England disappeared, leaving nothing but a lot of confused nations.

"Huh?!" England shouted, still looking at the spot where the other England had been.

"Uhh…England? You looked pretty worn out. What just happened?" asked Russia.

"Journal? Does that mean… Wait a minute, what does that-"

"So that was a message to England in the future?" America interrupted Japan. "And he said something about going back in time or whatever, right?"

"And he also told us to 'find the journal'," said Canada.

"'My future self'? Was he talking about me?" England asked, extremely confused.

"But Italy is alive. And…'the journal'? That's not very specific, is it?" asked Japan, trying to figure things out himself.

"Wait, there's something else inside the box!" said America, reaching down into the box.

"It's the usual, a clock. And also…a letter apparently. But it has no address…" said Russia.

"A letter?" asked Japan. "…Ah, I see. I will give it to him later."

"Well, what are we going to do now?" asked Canada, looking at the clock.

"Well, it's only a suggestion, but why don't we break the clock?" suggested Japan.

"What? Why?" asked America.

"Somehow, I feel that it is hiding the clue the other England just gave us. Besides, whenever we break a clock, I can catch a glimpse of future events," said Japan, thinking back to the other times clocks had been broken.

"Really? Well then, let's break it! We've got to fix time anyways!" said England.

"Oh, but…" America started awkwardly, not so sure now.

"Okay, I'll break it now!" said England before using his magic to break the clock.

…

"What the crap?!" exclaimed Japan when he saw the giant monster in front of him.

"_Oh dear! Run, Italy!" shouted England, holding a knife in front of him._

"_C'mon, move. Just go!" shouted France, trying to block Italy from the giant monster._

"_I…can't… If I do, America will…" said Italy, torn between leaving and saving everyone else._

"That's the enemy Italy fought on his own! But everyone is seriously injured. And why am I standing here watching?" Japan wondered while looking down at his transparent body. "This hasn't happened before."

"This sucks! Even with so many of us fighting it together, we still can't defeat it?" America shouted.

"America?!" Japan asked, looking over at the transparent American.

"Japan?! Huh, you're here too? Wait, you're the Japan who was talking just now, right?" America asked.

"Hai. Anyway, we have to help Italy," said Japan, motioning to the giant monster.

"I don't think that's possible. We're transparent, we can't touch anything. I think we're meant to just stand by and watch," said America.

"Oh crap!" shouted Japan, hitting the wall in frustration only to almost fall when his hand went through it.

"_Ugh, my leg…it's broken… Move, please move!" shouted Prussia._

"_Italy!" shouted Germany as he tried to fight the monster_

_Italy let off a burst of power before saying, "Its weakness…is its forehead… Too bad, I win again."_

_After the monster had disappeared, Italy went around and assessed the damage._

"_France, your injuries…you're okay, right? Japan is still breathing too… Good. America, you can still move a little, right?"_

_What the crap?! Stop, please! Not again! This time it's Italy? _America thought as he watched everything unfold.

"Oh!" shouted Japan as Italy fell to the floor.

"_I…did it! I saved…everyone! I made no mistakes!" Italy shouted desperately._

"Italy!" shouted Japan.

"_Heh, your injuries look serious…but you're alive. Good…thank goodness…my ruse worked…" said Italy._

_Ruse? _thought America.

"_Guys, you may not know this…but this is the second time we came here… The first time, I wasn't useful…at all… I could finally get you back… But I'm sorry…now it's my turn to fall…" said Italy._

"_You're joking, right? The second time? That makes no sense!" exclaimed Germany._

"_I went back in time, you see… The first time, I managed to get out of here. But…I was the only one…who got out… I didn't want that. I had to get you all out…"_

"_Idiote! You didn't have to get us out! You should've just gotten out without us!" shouted France._

"_Italy…" murmured Germany, looking sadly at the Italian._

"_C'mon, let's carry Italy. Anyone? Isn't there anyone who can move?! What about China and the others? Aren't they back yet?" America asked, looking desperately at the door._

"_Make… Make a place where we can rest. It can be anywhere. I'll take care of him. A really safe place. Someone!" shouted Prussia, quite wide awake at this moment._

I can hear their voices. I was all alone back then, but now they're alive. I'm actually…happy… But… _thought Italy before speaking._

"_Ehi, Germany…" said Italy._

"_Just hold on Italy. Oh, I know! I will make a place for you. The best place for you to rest…" said Germany, trying to staunch Italy's bleeding._

"_Really? Heh, then you could make lots of beds…where everyone else can rest? And then I'll peacefully rest…"_

"_Ja…" said Germany, listening to Italy's ranting._

"_And a table big enough for all of us too. I also want a place…where we can all cook…"_

"_J-Ja, definitely…"_

"…_Ger…many…"_

"_Ja, Italy?"_

"_I…I don't…want to die here… I wanted to escape with all of you…"_

"_Italy?" Germany asked worriedly. "Italy? Italy… Italy!"_

"_No…" said England, for once not hyperactive._

"_Crap…" said Prussia as he watched how his brother took Italy's death. "Japan, take the others outside. I'll get mein bruder."_

"_Italy…why…?" Germany was whispering as he stared into Italy's now lifeless eyes, tears flowing down his face._

"_Germany is…" America said as he watched Germany._

"_Bruder, calm down," said Prussia as he tried to get Germany up. But Germany's body was limp with grief and almost unmovable. "Hey France, give me a hand here."_

"_Italy is… No, it can't be…" said France as he helped Prussia get Germany away from Italy's body. "Why…?"_

"_C'mon bruder, calm down," said Prussia as he half-dragged Germany away from Italy._

"_Japan, let's go… Your injuries are the worst," said England as he slowly walked to the door. "Japan?"_

"_Gomen. It's just…I don't know, I'm just in shock…" said Japan as he watched Germany being dragged away from Italy. "I feel sad, but also angry and hopeless…and empty… I don't know how I should feel…" A lone tear traced its way down Japan's face, but he wiped it away before anyone could see it._

"_Japan, let's leave. Ya don't want anyone to see you like that, right?" America asked._

"_Ah, hai," said Japan, following the others out the door._

"Hey, you okay? If you aren't, you could lean on my shoulder," said America awkwardly in an attempt to be sort of nice.

"Hai, I'm fine. But what about you? You're clenching your hand so tight it's bleeding," said Japan, watching the blood drip down onto the floor.

"…This is why I didn't want to break the clock. I can't do anything here…" said America, clenching his hand even tighter. "Ugh, someone always…always-"

"_You're kidding, right? Italy's… But how could such a thing…?" asked Canada in shock._

"_Those voices coming from the room are Germany and Prussia, right? I guess we'd better not go in. They were the…closest to him…" said Russia, looking down at the ground._

"_If only we had…gotten here sooner…" said China, looking at the door._

"_No, I'm the one who made us split up. If anything, it's my fault," said America. "Hey, what's that book in your hand?"_

"_Oh this?" asked Canada, holding up said book. "I found it in the library room. And actually, it seems to be a journal."_

"America, that book!" exclaimed Japan excitedly. "Do you think that's _the _journal?"

"_That's the book that Italy was using, isn't it? I thought it was a Bible though. Is that it?" asked America, looking at the book his brother was holding up._

"_Yeah, and there's something strange about it," said Russia as he looked at the book over Canada's shoulder. "It's on the first page, here! Look at the name here."_

"_Italy…Veneziano…" read England. "It doesn't mean it's the name of the journal's owner! It kind of looks like this is…a contract sign page… It says…"_

"America?!" Japan exclaimed as America disappeared from his side.

_I feel like I'm going to be pulled back to reality! No, I have to stay just a little longer, even if it's just for a few seconds! _Japan thought desperately, trying to will himself to stay longer. But his effort was in vain as the scene before him disappeared.

…

"Japan! America!" Russia shouted as he saw them come back to reality.

Japan just stared at the ground, in too much shock to even speak.

"We're…back? Crap, if only we could've stayed a little longer!" America shouted in anger, fists still clenched.

"Just sit down. You both look really pale," said Canada, trying to help his brother to the floor.

"It was actually…the second world…" murmured Japan, still in shock.

"Hm? What's the matter?" England asked, waving his hand in front of Japan's face.

"They weren't just fake… Those things I saw were past experiences or…the future…?" mumbled America, also in shock. "Wait then…what number world is this? How many times have we…lost our friends…?"

"What number? What? We?" Canada asked in confusion.

"You mean, how many times have we come here?" asked Russia, trying to decipher what the two countries were talking about.

"…Ugh…" said Japan, grabbing his now-hurting head as he tried to figure everything out.

"Hey, are you two alright?" England asked in concern. "What exactly did you see? Can you go back once more?"

"Could you…do it for me? I'm not feeling so well…" said America, also gripping his head now with his strangely-bloody hands.

"Listen, even though I know Italy's fine, I need to see him now," said Japan, still a little zoned out.

"Hey, you look a little unsteady. Why don't you lean on my shoulder for support?" suggested Russia, moving a little closer to Japan.

_I only saw a few pasts, and yet I feel as if I'm going to fall apart… If I don't tell them, I won't be able to stand it… _thought Japan as he unconsciously leaned against Russia. _I can't keep this bottled up, or else I'll go…iNsAne… It's too painful…_

After that, Russia, England and Canada helped lead Japan and America back to the safe room, making sure they didn't fall. By the time they had reached the steps leading up to the safe room, America and Japan were standing almost steadily on their feet, so they went into the safe place without help.

"We're back, Italy," said Japan, almost immediately going over to where Italy was standing.

"Oh, you're back. Ciao, uhh…Japan," said Italy a little haltingly.

"Italy… You seem to be doing a little better, as does your memory," said Japan, silently relieved.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I still don't remember everything, but…things are falling into place," said Italy, looking down at the ground. "I've talked with Romano…so I've started to remember things little by little."

"Oh, you're back," said China, walking over from the kitchen. "The food will be ready in a moment, so just sit down and wait."

"Thanks. Hey, Italy, do you have a moment?" asked Japan, almost completely ignoring China.

"Uhh, yeah, sure," said Italy a little confused.

"You see," said Japan as he and Italy walked away from the others, "I've been holding onto a letter for you. Could you read it out loud?"

"For me?" asked Italy as he took the letter.

"Hai. Do you remember what happened in this mansion?"

"…Yeah, about half of it. But I'm still a little confused."

"All the more reason for you to read it. I haven't read it, but I think it'll be helpful to you."

"…It's my…handwriting…" said Italy as he opened the letter. "…'To the me who lives at some point in time…and who isn't alone-" Italy had to stop as memories started flowing through his mind.

_To the me who lives at some point in time and who isn't alone. Once again, I made some mistakes, but also some progress. Meanwhile, I finally, but slowly, began to learn…to rely on everyone else. I was constantly worried that everyone would blame me for dragging them into this, and that they would hate me, or be appalled by me, or get mad at me, and leave me completely… But then I was told that I had the wrong idea. They were really pissed off at me. It hurt a lot. Not that they hit me or anything, but it really did hurt. I finally figured it out, but I can't pass the memory on to my next self. Unfortunately, I'll lose my life yet again. That's why I'm writing a letter. Oh, say thanks to England. And tell them the truth. I'm sure they'll get _really _mad, but it's not like they hate you or think you're a pain…well, at least not much more anyway. Why didn't you rely on them sooner? What are…friends for? That's what they told me, and that's what they're going to tell you too. I'm sure I might…cry, and then…and then…_

"Italy," said Japan, looking up at the Italian.

"What?"

"I've been thinking all this time, wondering what we're going to do now… What do you want to do?"

"Well…investigate some place, or…"

"No, no, I meant once we get out of here. I've talked about this with Russia, about how we should have a party at someone's house or something."

"A party, hm? That could get…interesting…" said Italy, thinking about previous parties they had had.

"And I think it would be better if we held it late at night. We would all be more tired by that time, so it should go a little smoother. Oh, and I have a small garden, so I could pick some vegetables for the party."

"Hmm, sounds like fun," said America, who had apparently been listening in on their conversation. "I might come over early and help you get ready for it."

"Uhh, thanks…I guess," mumbled Japan. "So when we come back from the garden, we can make breakfast."

"And that's my cue. America can wake up those still sleeping," said China, coming over from the kitchen where he had been listening in on the conversation.

"Yeah, and then maybe…uhh…we could…go somewhere?" Japan suggested a little hesitantly.

"Yeah, we could go to an amusement park or something…" said Prussia, coming over to the others and slumping down in another chair.

"And I guess I could refrain from smoking for just that occasion," said France, also joining in on the conversation.

"A day or two probably wouldn't be enough. Oh, and we could go shopping," said Japan.

"Yes! And I could get special ingredients for cupcakes~!" said England, skipping happily over.

"I would like some of those special clothes you have at your place, Japan. What were they called, yukata? Yeah, we could all buy one," said Russia, thinking happily of what the party could be like.

"Well, I can hardly wait. And then when we get back, we could have a banquet or something," said Japan.

"With food from all over the world. Let's see, what could I make…?" wondered Canada.

"Well, let's see…I could make some of my special pasta…" said Italy.

"I could bring some beer und wurst," said Germany.

"Then we could all sleep together in sleeping bags or something," said Spain.

"Yeah, I'll lay out some futons. You can sleep whenever you like," said Japan.

"Ooh, sounds interesting! We could bring a gift fratello~ Hmm, what could we bring…?" wondered Romano.

"Yeah, we could bring ingredients for pasta or something," said Italy.

"I could…bring some beer," said Germany, again mentioning beer.

"Sure. It'll definitely be fun. Lots of fun… That's why, Italy…" said Japan, looking directly at Italy.

"Si?" asked Italy.

"That's why we all have to escape, with everyone who is here, without losing a single person," said Japan.

"…Right," said Italy, trying hard to not doubt that that would happen. "Yeah."

_I'm sure I might…cry, and then…and then… Look around yourself. _

_Ah, that's right, I- _thought Italy. _I have many…allies… This close to me all this time._

"Oi, Itaria, why are you looking down? Are you still not feeling well?" asked Japan, watching Italy's face.

"No, I'm fine. There's, uhh, something I want…to tell you-" said Italy before being cut off by Spain.

"Agh, what are we going to do Romano?" Spain suddenly burst out.

"Uhh, what are you talking about?" asked Romano, confused.

"I forgot to tell Austria and the others that we found Italy…" said Spain.

Romano just stayed quiet, pondering this.

"Euh, quoi, he's coming too?" asked France. "Et 'the others'? You mean…"

"Almost everyone that came to the world meeting~" said Romano happily.

"Yeah, Romano got really upset back there. He was just desperate to save his hermano, you know? I'd never seen him that upset before," said Spain, looking over at said Italian.

"Yup! I didn't want mio fratello to get hurt~" said Romano, walking over and trying to give Italy a hug. Italy just shoved him away, mumbling something about annoying brothers.

"Yeah, I might've done the same if mein bruder und I had been in the same situation," said Prussia, still slumped over in his chair.

"Ehi, Romano," said Italy after shoving him off again. "…Thanks…"

Romano stopped trying to give Italy a hug for long enough to say, "I just wanted you back fratello~ And I didn't want you to have to go through that again."

"Oh yeah, since we fixed the clocks quite a bit, our phones should work at least a little, right?" asked Russia, staring at the screen of his own phone.

"Duì, you're right Russia. I bet we'll be able to hear their voices even from here," said China.

"Okay, so Spain can call them and we can just listen," said America, motioning to Spain to call everyone.

"Crap…" said Spain after he had dialed the number. "Hey, Romano, couldn't you answer it instead?"

"Oh, you'll be fine~" teased Romano.

"Right…" said Spain before Austria picked up. "Hola, long time no see."

"Tch, yeah, long time," said Austria, a hint of anger in his voice.

"¿Cómo estás?"

"Fine," Austria replied shortly.

"So, uhh, sorry I forgot to call you. I got kind of busy…"

"Ja, ja," said Austria, rolling his eyes. "There are a mountain of things I want to say to you…well, more than a mountain really. But anyway, why didn't Romano call? We thought you had been killed or something."

"¿Qué? Romano?"

"Mm hmm~" said Romano, going over to stand by Spain.

"Hey, Italien, you can hear me, right?" asked Austria, raising his voice a little just in case Italy couldn't. "Come down and look outside the window."

"Okay~" said Romano, answering for his shocked brother.

"Wait, let's go together," said Canada, already following Italy and Romano to the stairway.

"Hey Italy! Don't walk in the front like that! If you're being targeted, how about you stand behind me!" said England.

"Yeah, let's go. He'll probably kill us if we don't hurry up. Then again, he hopefully won't be able to see us very well with the bars on the windows," said Prussia, slowly getting up from his seat and heading to the door.

"Ha, this again…" said France.

"Huh? What is it?" asked Italy, walking closer to the window. "What are you looking at?"

"So Italy, I've heard what you've done…to some extent. Wasn't very praiseworthy, was it?" Austria said from the other side of the phone.

"Scusa. But…I just-"

"You're an idiot, you know," said Austria, interrupting Italy. "Romano was really worried about you, you know."

"You don't need to call him an idiot…" mumbled Germany.

"Hey, Italy, look outside," said Prussia, who was standing and staring intently out the window.

Italy walked slowly over to the window and looked outside.

_Ugh, I knew they were pissed off at me, _thought Italy. _But of course, it is my fault…_

"Oh!" said Italy in shock as he looked outside. "Everyone…"

"Italy!" shouted Austria, loud enough for the nations inside to hear him.

"Ah, si?" Italy said.

"I don't think it's smart to try to do everything on your own. But… You really did your best," said Austria, now speaking into the phone again.

Italy looked down at Austria, surprise plain on his face.

"The whole world has come to save you guys, but unfortunately, we couldn't find a way in," said Austria, only a little pity eminent in his voice. "So we'll just have to support you from out here, even if it might get a little frustrating."

"Hey, look, it's the Nordics!" exclaimed England. "And then those over there are-"

"My sestry," finished Russia, looking over at Belarus and Ukraine.

"Everyone…" said Italy again, still looking out the window at the faces he hadn't seen in what felt like an eternity.

"That's quite amazing! Now we really have to get out together!" said England, looking out the window in amazement.

"I…" said Italy while trying to think of what to say.

"Yes?" asked England, wondering what he was going to say.

"I'm not alone anymore…" said Italy in awe, feeling happier than he had ever felt in his life.

"Ja. You should really broaden your horizons. Oh, and hurry up and get out of there. We don't want to stand out here forever," said Austria. "But until we can leave, you have to get out of there first. We'll do everything we can here. It's quite strange, everyone getting along and agreeing on something."

"It's a unity warning," said China.

"Heh, true. We never get anything done during a meeting, but here we are, getting along," said America, gesturing around him to emphasize his point.

"Well, yeah. Even though we fight and try to kill each other a lot, we're still all nations," said Spain.

"You're right," said Canada.

"…Yeah," said Italy.

_I still haven't got some of my memories back. But still…I can already answer some of their most important questions, _thought Italy.

"Everyone, sorry for making you wait," said Italy, turning around to face the rough semicircle of nations behind him.

"Fratello…" said Romano, already knowing what was coming.

"I'll tell you everything that I remember," said Italy, a hint of insanity in his eyes.

"Italy…" said Germany, who could guess at what was coming.

"I'll tell you everything from the very beginning, so this could take a while. Still, I want you all to listen."

"Tch, about time. Come on, go ahead and tell us already," said China impatiently.

"It'll be a like a quiz…" said America.

"I've been waiting to hear this, Italy," said Prussia, awake enough to listen.

"Now hurry up and tell us. We want to know everything," said Japan, tapping his foot a little.

"Grazie," said Italy, ready to talk. "Let's see…it all began shortly after the World Meeting… I happened to overhear some rumors, and that's when the clock hands began to turn."

* * *

**A/N: So, finally done! And with a whopping 19 pages! XD And heh, I had the ACT today! *eye twitches* Yeah…fun…*laughs a little insanely* Anyway, I have CHOCOLATE! So now I'm brain-dead and hyper! Ladedadeda~ XD So here's this suuuuper long chapter, hope you liked it! Me gusta reviews! *insanely laughs again***


	11. Chapter XI: Take us Back

"Well, I'm going back for now. Call back if you need anything," said Austria before ending the call.

"Kay. Be careful," said Prussia.

"Now then, where should I start? What do you want to hear?" asked Italy, ready to tell his story.

"Well, umm, this isn't the first time we came here, is it?" asked Japan, already knowing the answer for the most part.

"Yes, I was also wondering about that. America said we had gone through this many times," said Russia.

Italy thought for a moment, memories of all the previous times going through his still confused mind.

"Si, we've gone through this several times, ever since we left the world meeting," said Italy.

"Knew it. So what happened the first time?" asked America.

"Right, how this started," said Italy, remembering the first time. "Before the world meeting, I was just wandering around, doing some target practice, when I came across an unknown city somewhere. When I was there, I happened to hear rumors about this place. I thought it sounded pretty interesting, so I told America about it."

"Yup, no difference so far," said America.

"Yeah. Oh, but the very first time I came here with nine of you," said Italy.

"Which is everyone except me and Spain. So this really is the first time we're here~" said Romano, a little happily.

"We were just going to have a little fun, and then we were going to go home. We opened the door and came in…but as you know, there was that monster inside. We all ran in different directions and I couldn't find anyone else. I was kinda freaking out and didn't know what had happened to all of you. I tried to find someone as quickly as possible… After walking around for a while, I finally found Japan. But he had just been beaten by the monster… Until then, I had completely forgotten that Japan had even come along. There was a gap, as if something had been erased… While I was thinking that there was something wrong with my memory…China, Russia, France, America, Canada, and England were all killed off, one by one… By the time I was finally able to escape, Prussia and Germany had also been killed, and I was the only one still alive."

"You were…alone…" muttered France, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I was supposed to get out, but I felt too…hopeless… I just wandered around without knowing what to do, and before I knew it, I was in the library. That's when I found this book," said Italy, holding up the book he had been carrying with him.

"That's the Bible you've been carrying all along, isn't it?" asked China, a little confused.

"Yeah, it kinda looks like a Bible, but it's actually a journal. When I opened it, it had the name of its previous owner in it."

"'Ryuuzu no Ko', right?" asked Japan, remembering it from the memory.

"Yeah… Everyone had died right before my eyes, and I was all alone… By then, I wasn't really thinking straight anymore. That's when my memories get a little fuzzy. I was going to throw this book away too, but that monster found me, and I unconsciously ran away with the book still in my hands. And at last, I got out… But I was alone…"

…

"_I got out… I'm the only one who survived, the only one who got out. I shouldn't have been able to get out… What the heck, this doesn't make any sense. Out of everyone, _I'm_ the only one left? What the heck? What the heck?"_

_A monster appeared behind Italy and started to chase him. But just when Italy had reached the gated, he yelled, "_Stop! _I won, right? You couldn't catch me; you lost!" he taunted the monster, insanity in his eyes. "The moment I get out of here, you lose! There's nothing you can do from that distance! When I get out of here, this place won't be the same as before, you know! As a nation, I will _destroy _this place! Well, doesn't that make you frustrated? Huh? I am your last trophy, after all. You lost to the guy who can only throw a few knives!"_

_Italy was quiet for a few moments, pondering things._

"…_back… Take us back! You can take us back in this warped space, can't you? If you do that, why don't you eat me first? If you can catch me, that is. …Go back! ! !" Italy shouted at the monster before the world around him flashed and disappeared._

…

"The next thing I knew, I was back in the World Meeting hall. I had the journal in my hand…and I knew I'd gone back in time. And then I became the owner of this journal. The proof that I became like this Ryuuzu is that it was written on the previous journal that he was the only one who could go back in time."

"So you made a sort of pact with it. It sent you back in time so it could eat you," said China, pondering this fact.

"Anyway, the second time, I didn't really want to come back here, so I tried to stop America… But it was too late, you were already headed here. In the end, no matter how many times I go back, I can't go back to before I told America about this house. The ten of us always come here, even if the groups change. Always. So that's what the memories of coming here with different people are all about. We kept coming here in various patterns. And in the second time loop, I couldn't save England, China, or America, and I survived again," said Italy, looking a bit insane.

"Nani?" questioned Japan, stopping Italy for a moment.

"So once again…"

"Wait, wait, stop. In the second time loop, I did survive, right?" asked America, curious as to if the memory he and Japan had shared was real or not.

"What?" Italy said, confused.

"Hai, it's just as America said. Italy…in the room behind you…you were the only one who…" started Japan.

"I'm the only one who died?" finished Italy. "What?! But that's impossible!"

"Maybe you're just confused because you've gone through this too many times!" said England, still cheerful.

"The second time wasn't the same as the first time, but I still remember it clearly. And besides, if I died, who made time go back?"

"Right, Italy is the only one who can make time go back. So that wouldn't fit…would it?" wondered Russia.

"But we saw it when we broke that clock! Even Italy said that it was the second time," said Japan, not able to believe that that memory was false.

"I did? Hmm…there were definitely several past times where I told you everything like this. But…the second time…? Wait, where was the clock?" asked Italy, a sudden thought dawning on him.

"Remember that box in the cell? The clock was in that box, along with a letter for you," said America.

"There _was _something inside that box?!" exclaimed Italy, completely surprised.

"Yup, and it looked like I was the one who sealed it! Well, my past self to be correct!" said England cheerily.

"Maybe you haven't gotten all your memories back yet, and that's why you remember things differently," said Spain.

"Yeah, we can't just expect you to remember everything all of a sudden. And besides, we've got the gist of it," said Canada.

"So to sum it up, we all died the first time, and then Italy went back in time, right? And Italy is the only one who can keep going back until all of us can get out," said France.

_But I'm sure I saw a past where Italy died, _thought Japan confusedly. _If that past is real, then who the crap went back in time?_

"Ehi, Japan, you're frowning," said Italy, curiously watching Japan.

"Itaria, how do you go back in time?" asked Japan.

"Well, there's a big clock somewhere in this house, and all I have to do is rewind it."

"Is that clock in a different place each time?"

"Si, that's right. The first time around it moved so I could escape, but whenever someone died, I would go after it and it'd be in a different spot," said Italy, wondering why Japan wanted to know this. "Sadly, it's the one sure way to escape."

"For everyone, right? You must be including yourself in that," said Japan.

"Oh, well…"

Japan just stared at Italy, surprised at his selflessness.

"Italy, do you remember the question I asked you earlier?" asked Japan.

"Question?" questioned Italy.

"I asked you if you were hurt somewhere."

"Oh. Yeah, I remember."

"I'm going to rephrase my question now."

"Uh, okay."

"Is there somewhere you want to be?"

"Japan…"

"Answer, Italy…"

"I… All this time, I wanted to be with you guys, actually… Everywhere hurt, but I couldn't stop trying, and yet I couldn't find a way to make it stop, either… But I guess I can tell you now… I…wanted to be with all of you…because I had lost you so many times… I wanted to escape with all of you…"

"Yeah, I do too," said Japan, looking down a little.

"Japan…"

"Wow, that was kinda sweet…" muttered a half asleep Prussia.

"Bruder, it was serious…" said Germany.

"Well, I think we'll all live and escape together. The last time you had to use that clock was the very last time, 'kay?" said America, reassuringly.

"Yup, no objections~!" said England.

_But there are a lot of things that don't fit… _thought Romano. _And I can't figure it out with the memories I have!_

"Romano, you don't have to think too much about it," Spain muttered to Romano.

Romano looked over at Spain, surprised.

"Just think of those red stains on your clothes as tomato stains. It couldn't have been anything else."

"Wah, it's like you read my mind! But okay, I'll just ask them later. For now, I guess it's enough that we figured out this much. And besides, they're a little less troubled now~"

"Good," said Spain, turning away from Romano and back to the conversation.

"Hehe~" Romano laughed, also turning back to the conversation.

"Well, looks like our discussion will have to end here. We have a visitor," said Japan, already pulling out his sword, ready to face the monster.

"Wh-What is that thing?!" exclaimed Spain, turning and seeing the monster for the first time. "What the heck?!"

"Ow, don't scream in my ear!" said Romano, his ears covered for emphasis.

"Wait, there's another one!" Spain shouted again, jumping back a little as the door behind him opened to reveal a thing.

"Yup, that's the natural reaction," said France while puffing on a cigarette, completely unfazed. "I suppose we've been through this so many times that we've unconsciously gotten used to it."

"Yeah, that's how it is. Now stop talking and get ready to fight," said Prussia, getting up from the floor and pulling out his rusty sword.

"Weapons ready, everyone! We'll get rid of 'em fast!" shouted Japan, not taking his eyes off the monsters around him.

Everyone else pulled out their weapons and split into two groups to fight the things. America, China, Japan, France, Germany, and Spain faced the one that had appeared first, while Romano, Italy, Russia, England, Prussia, and Canada faced off the one that had come through the door.

America swung his bat at the thing, hitting it over the head, but the thing barely even flinched before it swung at him and knocked him aside. But Japan was right behind America, swinging his sword at the thing. The swing hit it's arm, knocking it to the side a little, where China was waiting with his butcher knife. The knife sunk deep into the thing's left arm, making it roar in pain. It pushed China hard against the wall, knocking the breath out of him, before saying, "YoU wOn'T eScApE!"

It then used its special attack on China, knocking him to the ground. Before the monster could even move, Germany had sent two bullets into its chest with his pistol. The thing roared as Japan and Spain attacked it with their swords, France finishing the attack with a knife to its head. The thing roared in pain before disappearing.

On the other battle front, England had already shoved a cupcake down the thing's throat, making it a bit disoriented. But despite that, it had already knocked down everyone's attacks. Russia glared at the thing, trying to measure how and where to attack it, when Canada whacked it over its head with his hockey stick. The thing roared and swatted Canada away. But it barely had time to think before Russia drove his sword into the thing's head. It roared and disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS!

_Ugh, what is with that voice?! _Prussia wondered, trying his best to ignore the voices around him.

"Well, let's go back. We're all tired, so let's call it a day…" said Japan, sheathing his sword and heading to the safe room.

"Yeah, let's sleep," said China, following Japan.

"Sorry. Guess I lost more memories than I thought," said Italy, trying to remember what America and Japan had told him about.

"No, that was good enough. The rest is our job," said Japan.

"Still…doesn't it fell kind of weird to think that we can die?" asked England, head tilted.

"As if we were the same as humans. Maybe we exist as humans in this place…" said France, pondering the fact that England's cupcakes could now completely kill him.

"You're right. It feels as if my body doesn't carry the weight of a nation now, even though I don't look any different…" said China, thinking about how empty he had felt since he had stepped foot into the mansion.

"I wonder if I'll forget again? I don't want that…I don't want to forget this bond we've formed," said Italy, thinking about how everyone was actually getting along in this situation.

"Italy…" said Germany, thinking the same thing Italy was thinking.

"Sí, isn't there something we could do here?" asked Spain, also thinking about their bonds.

Everyone sat there thinking for a few moments, thinking about what they could do to sustain their bond.

"Hey, I know," said America, looking up from his thinking.

"What is it? What do you mean?" asked Canada, looking at his brother.

"We could form an alliance, a testimony of our new bond, with nothing to do with Axis or Allies, or neutral nations. Just all of us here," said America, making everyone think more.

"Hmm, sounds interesting…I approve," said Prussia, very much awake.

"I agree with America. Let's do it," said Japan, nodding his head in approval. "Oi, did we form an alliance before?"

"Not as far as I know. I approve too~" said Romano, giving a thumbs up.

"Tch, I'm not accepting any objections. Now then, after all this trouble, we should write it down in a document. But keep it simple," America said, leaning back in his seat.

"Hmm… Well, first of all, believe in each other. Help one another. Rely on one another. Also, escape all together. That should do," said Germany.

"Me gusta. It's really simple. An alliance like this doesn't happen every day," said Spain.

"There. Now we just have to sign it," said America when he finished writing it down.

"Oh, wait just a moment," said Russia.

"What is it?" asked China.

"Sorry, but it just doesn't feel right that so many nations should form an alliance," Russia said, a little awkwardly.

"But our signatures will only be valid within this house! Right?" asked England.

"But that's the problem with forming an alliance here. We don't know who could get their hands on it. We'll leave it in this strange place where anyone could see it," Russia pointed out.

"I see your point. Even if we exist as humans right now, it doesn't change the fact that we're still nations," Germany agreed.

"So we really can't make an alliance," sighed Italy, disappointed.

"Da, I really wish we could though. But we need to think of the nations we really are…" said Russia, completely forgetting that he wasn't ever going to say da because of his counterpart.

"If only it were possible, I would like to form an alliance like this…" said France, slightly disappointed.

"To be human, even if only in this place…" muttered Japan, thinking.

"Japan?" asked Italy, wondering what Japan was thinking about.

"I have an idea. Instead of forming an alliance as nations, let's form it as humans," Japan said.

"As humans? How can we do that?" asked Prussia, pondering this idea.

"We can sign this paper as the humans we are now. In other words, we could come up with human names for ourselves and sign with those," Japan said, already having an idea for his human name.

"Then if anyone else sees it, they won't understand it because it's not signed by nations," said Canada, liking the idea.

"So a human name, not Romano… Hmm, sounds good~ What do you think fratello?" Romano asked his brother.

"Yeah, seems like a good idea. If we do that, we'll be able to form an alliance," said Italy, smiling a little.

"I'll be…umm…Allan Jones," said America, liking his name.

"Andrew Williams," stated Canada.

"Wang Jian," said China.

"Lanzo Beilschmidt…" muttered Prussia.

"Jean Joc Bonnefoy," said France before puffing on his cigarette.

"I'll be Viktor Braginski," said Russia, smirking a little.

"Hmm…Sebastian Fernández Carriedo," said Spain, writing it down. "Crap, there's not enough space…"

"Oliver Kirkland~" said England with a grin like Cheshire Cat's.

"I'll be Kaspar," said Germany, completely forgetting a last name.

"I'll be Leonardo Vargas~" said Romano, a happy smile on his face.

"Then I'll be Luciano Vargas," said Italy, looking off to the side.

"Honda Koru," said Japan.

"Cool, everyone signed. Now this vow is absolute, right Koru?" America asked, using Japan's new human name.

"Hmm? Oh, uhh, right…Oliver…?" Japan said uncertainly.

"Ah no, I'm Allan. Iggy is Oliver," said America, a bit awkwardly.

"Oh, hai, gomen…" said Japan, blushing a little in embarrassment.

"Umm, what was Germany's name again?" asked Italy, wanting to get this over with.

"C'mon, Italy, can't you remember his name?" Prussia asked lazily, not knowing himself.

"Bruder, you don't know it yourself," muttered Germany, smiling a little.

"Well, this is kind of award," said Russia, voicing everyone's thoughts. "But the names will never change, no matter what."

"Yeah, that's right. Even after we leave this cursed house, we'll still be bound to this as humans," said Canada.

"Okay, urusai minna. Stop saying human names just to annoy people. Now, looking over the document closely-" started Japan.

"What is it? Isn't it fine? Your human name fits you quite well, I think!" said England.

"Urusai Allan!" shouted Japan without thinking.

"Pff, what's up Japan? Maybe you should just stop with the human name thing…" Prussia muttered, a smirk of amusement on his face.

Germany was also smirking, holding back a laugh that was fighting to escape his lips.

Japan had one of those red anger marks on his head, annoyed by their behavior and annoyed at himself.

"But you know…" started Italy, trying to prevent everyone from killing each other so soon after their alliance.

"Hm?" asked Germany, a small smirk still on his face.

"It's been so long since it's been so loud like this. It's…kind of nice. Don't you think so…umm…Germany?" asked Italy, not even attempting to say Germany's name.

"Uh, yes, it is," said Germany, fighting even harder to hold back his laugh.

Prussia had started to laugh a little though, looking back and forth between Japan and Italy.

"Prussia?" asked Germany, confused by his brother's behavior.

"Oh, I'm kinda tired… Guess I'lll go take a bath," said Prussia, getting up and walking off.

France stared after Prussia, confused.

…

Prussia closed the door of the bathroom behind him, leaning on it for support.

"Ah, what the heck? Why is my heart beating this hard?" Prussia wondered aloud, hand to his chest. "Am I going to…die?! Well, no. I'm not just going to let myself die! I still have people to protect, including Germany."

"Oi, Prussia!" called Japan, knocking on the door.

"Hm? What is it?" asked Prussia, turning around and opening the door.

"You have to come back, quickly! The others are-"

"Hm? What's wrong?" asked Prussia, a little worried.

"Come on, quickly! I can't handle this by myself!" said Japan urgently.

"Uhh, okay, I'm coming," said Prussia, walking out of the door.

* * *

**A/N: And that's the end of my version! Eep, I wanna know what's gonna happen next SOOOO badly! That's why I'm getting these chapters up so fast! *eagerly posts chapter* Hehe~ Oh yeah, lot of thinking in this chapter! Sorta did that on purpose! I was gonna have someone think about why everyone was thinking so much, but I didn't know where to put it, but oh well… XD So, reviews are much appreciated, as always! I would absolutely love it if you reviewed! Oh, and the human names are from the fanfic Taken by ToastTSA. Hope you look it up!**


	12. Chapter XII: Beds

"What, you're kidding me! Why does it have to be you?" asked Romano, a hint of anger in his voice.

"That's why I'm saying I should be with Germany," said Italy.

"Wait, you've got to be kidding me! I object!" said Germany.

Prussia just watched all this, confused as to why Japan called him back.

Japan sighed before saying, "Sorry I had to call you back, but they won't stop arguing!"

"Come on, you guys, do you really have to argue about this?" France asked, annoyed.

"Uhh, Japan, what are they talking about?" asked Prussia, walking over to where the others were standing.

"Maybe we should pair up with our family," said Canada, trying to resolve the situation. "Oh, but if it's going to be all the time-"

"If it weren't with a lunatic, I'd be fine! But…" said England, thinking.

"Wait, are you talking about me?" America asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "If anything, you're the lunatic…"

"I could just use a blanket and lay it on that table," said Spain, not caring much. "It would be like a cot."

"Huh? Cot…?" muttered Prussia, _still _not knowing what was going on.

"Hai, since we're all pretty tired, we started to prep the beds, but then we realized there weren't enough for everyone… So we started to think about what to do, and it turned into this," said Japan, motioning to the scene in front of him.

"Well, those beds are pretty comfortable… So you were just worried that everyone was going to fight over them?" asked Prussia, looking longingly over to the beds.

"It wouldn't be so bad if the smaller ones slept together. For example, Japan and China…" said Russia, simply stating facts but instead making everyone in the room furious, namely Japan and China.

"Say that again, you commie!" shouted China angrily, butcher knife out in an instant. "And stay away from me!"

Russia was pushed and moved a little toward one of the tables, further from the group now.

"Okay, settle down!" Germany said, loud enough to be heard over all the noise. "I'll make more beds in the morning. But for now, can't we endure this for one night?"

"Well…I guess I could sleep with Romano then…" muttered Italy, reluctant. "It has been a while since I've seen him, after all…"

"Yay~" said Romano happily.

"Hmm…how unusual for you, Italy," said France, staring strangely at Italy.

"Tch, fine…I'll probably have to sleep with that idiota Germany then… Oh, but Spain…" said Italy, not really wanting to sleep with anyone.

"Wait, why do I have to sleep with you? I don't want to die in my sleep…" said Germany, glancing nervously over at Italy.

"Uhh, I'll just sleep on the floor…" said Japan, trying to break the tension in the room. "If I lay down a blanket, it'll be sort of like a futon.

"Maybe we could all sleep on the floor…" suggested Prussia, wanting to the get this conversation over with.

"Hmm, not a bad idea," said America, a bit impressed that Prussia came up with it. "So let's all get to sleep already. I'll take care of the beds. Iggy, you help me."

"Oh goody~" exclaimed England, eagerly walking over to help.

America rolled his eyes at England, slowly and reluctantly walking over to the beds.

"Hmm, it's like a training camp," said Japan, looking around the room after the beds had been moved.

"Tch, still wish I had a bed. It's kinda cramped," said America, scooting away from England.

"I can't wait till we get out of here and have that party," said Spain. "There are so many things, I should write them down."

"Hey fratello~ We really should send food to Japan's house before-" Romano stopped for a moment, listening. "Oh, he fell asleep~"

"Must be pretty tired. And relieved. Let him sleep," said France.

"I wonder if he was awake even when I was keeping watch…" wondered Prussia, half asleep.

"He probably wanted to just in case you fell asleep…and he might've felt that it was necessary in order to survive. Come to think of it, even when Japan and I woke up…" said Germany, thinking back.

"He was awake," finished Japan. "To think that he was aware of that monster because he had known about it from the very beginning…"

"He seemed to read that Bible-er, journal sometimes. Do you think he's written about everything that's happened to him so far?" wondered Canada, looking over at the sleeping Italian.

"Hmm, maybe. And maybe he'll let us read what he's written," said Russia, also looking over at the sleeping Italian.

"We could ask him tomorrow! Okay, enough chatting now! I'm going to sleep!" said England, getting more comfortable in his bed.

"Yup…" China murmured before falling fast asleep.

"Wow…" said Japan, facepalming.

…

"_Italy. …Italy."_

"_Italy?" Italy asked. "Italy? Who's that again…huh? Me?"_

"_Are you alright? Are you suffering?" asked the strange voice._

"_I…know that voice. Who is it?" Italy asked._

"…_You can still go on, right?" the voice asked, sounding worried._

"_That voice… I'm sure I…" said Italy before suddenly remembering. "Wait! You're-"_

…

"Italy!" called Germany, worried about the fact that he wasn't waking up.

Italy stared at Germany's face for a moment, surprised.

"Are you alright? You seemed to be having a nightmare."

"…Me?" Italy asked, trying to remember his dream.

"Italy, have you lost your memories again?" Germany asked, panicking a little.

"…Oh… No, I'm…fine, Mr. Germany," said Italy.

"You…" said Germany, realizing Italy had called him Mr. Germany again.

"I…I'm most defenseless when I sleep… My memories slowly slip away… I tried not to fall asleep…sorry…" said Italy, slowly regaining his memories again.

"No, you have to sleep. It's okay to forget sometimes. It must be awful to have memories of the events in this mansion…"

"But, I-I mean, Mr. Germany-I mean… Ugh, what am I saying?" Italy asked himself, gripping his head. "Sorry. I've got it all sorted out now Germany."

"I see…" said Germany, still feeling a tad worried.

"I'll just go wash my face. You go back to sleep," said Italy, getting up and muttering, "It was your voice I heard, wasn't it?"

Germany stared at Italy, confused, before saying, "I don't know what you're talking about, but if you're alright, I'm going to sleep. If anything comes up, wake me up."

"Okay," said Italy before walking towards the bathrooms.

_See, just as I said, wasn't it?_

_A voice? _Italy wondered as he walked.

_Yeah, but he literally woke up. Anyway, [he] will work for [us] until [he] dies. You do know that we have no such…service as compromise, right?_

"What?" Italy asked aloud this time, thoroughly confused.

Italy stood in front of the bathroom door, waiting for something more, but when nothing happened, he walked in.

"Italy…" said Russia, surprised when Italy walked into the bathroom.

"Russia…" said Italy.

"I didn't think you were one to eavesdrop. Anyway, you look all sweaty. Did you come in here to wash up?"

"But I didn't hear anything at all…" said Italy before realizing that voice was Russia. "Wait, who were you talking to? You said some disturbing things-"

"It's none of your business who I talk to on the phone, is it?" Russia asked with a smile. "Now, I'd greatly appreciate it if you left me alone."

"Are you hiding something?" Italy asked, eyes narrowed.

"You did too, remember? You never told us anything," said Russia defensively.

"But-" said Italy, now extremely suspicious of Russia.

"I'm free to decide what to do with my chess pieces," said Russia, cutting Italy off. "Oh, but it doesn't seem to be very useful… I have to find the next piece quickly…"

"Russia!" Italy called angrily as Russia headed towards the door.

"Go wash your face already," Russia said before walking out of the room.

Italy stood there, too shocked to do anything.

…

"Well, now that we can contact the outside world, we need someone to stay here. Something like a control tower," said Japan, looking around the table.

"Apparently, the monster can also go outside, so the people outside might have to fight also. Austria told us that they spread out and will take care of it all at once," said Germany. "The whole world is gathered here. In other words…we are united with the whole world right now."

"What should we do now?" asked China.

"I want to search for the metal pieces. I know I hid one somewhere on the second floor. Let's search for it and then go to the fourth floor," said Italy.

"Oh yeah, I remember that one. It's the one you and I hid, right? I saw it when we broke the clock," said America.

"What? You should have told us this, my little Alfie!" said England.

"It would've been kinda dangerous if I had told you yesterday. I…won't say who to, though," said America, looking at the table so he wouldn't look at the person he was talking about.

"Do you mean one of us was going to die?" asked France. "In that case, who's going to get the metal piece?"

"I could go. If you tell me where it is, I could go alone," said Spain, truthfully wanting to get away from everyone for a bit.

"I'll go too~ What are the chances the thing is going to appear?" Romano asked, looking over at his brother for an answer.

Italy stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "100%"

"Oh… Well, bring it on! Never underestimate an Italian!" exclaimed Romano, trying to sound brave.

"I'll go with you. If possible, we should go in few numbers," said Italy.

"Well then, I'm coming with you. It's not far from here, and I could get reinforcements if we need them. And I'd be grateful if they came right away," said Germany.

"So I'm guessing five people would be too much. All right, we'll be ready to leave right away. Prussia, could you get in touch with those outside?" asked Russia, looking over at the half asleep Prussian.

"'Kay. Iggy, Canada, you'll help me," said Prussia, already taking his cell phone out of his pocket.

"It's the room opposite the fireplace room. It's supposed to be well hidden underneath the carpet," said America.

"Got it. We're off then," said Italy, getting up and walking toward the door.

Spain, Romano, and Germany followed Italy out of the room and to the room across from the fireplace room. When they entered, they started to search under the carpet until Italy said, "I found it."

The others walked over to him.

"I hid it here…but I don't remember it at all…" said Italy, looking at the piece of metal in his hand.

"Ehi, fratello, where's that monster going to come from?" asked Romano, looking around the room.

"Uhh…" said Italy.

Just then, the monster jumped from the ceiling and attacked the group. Italy threw some knives at it, while Spain took out his sword and slashed at it. But this monster was one of the bigger ones that Italy had just barely defeated, and the four nations were having trouble defeating it. Germany shot it through its chest, thinking that that would kill it, but instead Germany was knocked against the wall by one of its giant gorilla-like arms. Spain, Romano, and Italy then kicked up their offensives, hitting it with slash after slash until Romano threw a knife at its head. It roared in pain and disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

"You…" said Germany.

"Hmph, I thought it was going to come from the door, not the ceiling," said Spain as he sheathed his sword.

"Yeah, sorry, he drops from above," said Italy, looking up at the ceiling.

"But now it's too late fratello! You should've told us before! Sigh, anyway, let's get to the fourth floor, quickly!" said Romano, hurrying towards the door.

"I said sorry," grumbled Italy. "And don't go ahead! You know it's dangerous."

Italy hurried after his brother, making sure there were no monsters in the hallway before leaving the room, Spain and Germany following. They headed to the fourth floor and went into the mochi room, walking to the corner where the mochi was.

"Whoa, what the heck is that thing?!" exclaimed Spain when he saw the mochi.

Italy stared at it for a moment, confused.

"Hmm…was that here before?" he asked, trying to remember.

Unable to remember, Italy walked up to the thing and started to pull it out.

"Crap, what're we going to do? I can't get it out," said Italy, tugging on it for emphasis.

The whole room suddenly shook, making everyone scream.

"Italy, are you alright? Did it attack you?" asked Germany, concern in his voice.

"Tch, I'm fine, idiota. But that sound…it came from this," said Italy, pointing to the mochi.

"That's weird… Maybe it's hungry? Why don't we try feeding it?" suggested Spain, looking over at the strange thing.

"Hungry? Does that sound like a rumbling stomach to you?" Romano asked, head tilted to the side.

"It looks like it's in pain… But really, do you think it's hungry? Maybe if we feed it it'll come out. Tch, I don't have any food though…" muttered Italy, searching his pockets.

"We could ask the others to bring some. Try calling them," said Germany.

"You're still talking about it being hungry?" asked a partially exasperated Romano. "I can't believe this…"

…

"Well, now we just have to wait until we're contacted," said Japan before walking into the kitchen.

"Hmm?" England asked when Japan came over. "Oh, I wasn't really paying attention! Just wait, I'm almost done here!"

Japan's eyes slightly widened when he saw what was cooking.

"Oh, what's wrong? You don't have to be that excited!" said England before turning back around to the stove. "…I'm sorry… When I get all my magic back, I'll be more useful!"

"Umm…what'll happen when you have all your mag-er, strength back?" asked Japan, curious.

"I'll turn into and angel~" said England happily.

A smile crept onto Japan's face, and he had to hold back a laugh.

"R-Really…" he managed to choke out before he burst out laughing.

Japan stumbled away from England, still laughing, before he stopped near the maps.

"'Sing karaoke together, shop for yukata, saucepans, amusement park, bucket pudding, harvest, bring instruments and play a concert together'?" Japan read from a paper tacked to the wall. "Uhh, what is this?"

"Oh, that's our to-do list. We wrote down the things we wanted to do when we got home. How 'bout you write something?" America suggested, pointing to the pen sitting on the table.

"Well, okay. I guess I'll write something too," said Japan, picking up the pen and thinking. When he thought of something, he wrote, "'Sudden death pillow fight.'"

"Uh, dude, what the heck is that?" asked America, staring at what Japan had written.

"It's a game that'll help us get along. I'm pretty good at it. You should look forward to it."

America sighed, leaning against the wall.

"I can't go anywhere, so I have nothing to do. And the kitchen's been taken over by the Cupcake King," America muttered, looking over at the kitchen.

Japan walked away from the list on the wall and over to Russia, wondering about his sisters.

"I talked to Belarus on the phone. She seemed happier than she normally is. I think she made some new friends," said Russia.

"Hmm, that's weird. I can't make contact with the outside world. Guess we'll just have to keep breaking the clocks," said Canada, listening in on Japan's and Russia's conversation.

"We can get reception once in a while, but it's pretty bad right now," said France, also eavesdropping. "I was talking to them until some time ago."

"Yeah, the reception's bad right now and we can't contact the outside world. We'll have to wait awhile before we can make any calls. So if Italy and the others call, we'll all go together," said Prussia, who Japan thought had been sleeping.

Japan walked away from them and over to China, who was standing over by the beds.

"Oh, Korea called earlier. You should talk to him later. He sounded kind of worried," said China, turning to Japan.

Japan started to walk in between the beds, not really knowing what to do, when his phone started to ring.

"Oh, a call from Italy. Guess the receptions' gotten better," said Japan before picking up. "Yes, what is it?"

"Oh, that was fast," said Italy from the other side of the phone. "Could you bring us some food? There's this weird creature here on the fourth floor and we're going to try luring it out with food."

"Umm, what? I don't really get it, but I just have to bring food, right? Okay, we're on our way."

"Grazie."

"You sound kind of happy," said Japan.

"Well, yeah, I guess… It does look like we're going to get out soon. It's like a dream! I am really happy…like you wouldn't believe!" said Italy, voice containing a hint of insanity from the amount of time he had spent in the mansion.

"Really? That's a surprise. I thought it felt like we were going to be staying here longer-"

"I was surprised too," said Italy cutting Japan off. "It's been such a long, long time… So, we're all getting out together, right Japan?"

"Of course. But first, I'll bring you the food."

"Since it's a weird creature, it might eat weird things. Germany says you should bring some strange food."

"Okay, I'll take a look in the kitchen. We'll be there immediately," said Japan before hanging up.

_I'll get out soon with them… Thank goodness…_

Japan walked into the kitchen, looking around the room. He found a pot-thing full of food.

"Cabbage, potatoes, and tomatoes. Ordinary food, so I'll just leave them," said Japan before moving on.

After looking around for a bit longer, Japan narrowed the strange foods down to blueberries, salmiakki, cupcakes, and licorice. Japan took the cupcake without a second thought.

"I'd rather not take this… I feel like the poison could seep through the cupcake itself…"

Japan put the cupcake down before anything happened and looked over at the salmiakki.

"I don't think that could be carried out very easily."

Japan decided on the blueberries and decided to look around some more. He reluctantly decided to take the cupcake, deciding it was strange enough for whatever the thing was.

"Okay everyone, let's go," said Japan, leading everyone to the fourth floor.

When they had arrived at the fourth floor, Japan said, "Sorry it took us so long."

"No, its fine, we've been through a lot. I'm kinda glad we're all gathered here," said Germany.

"You sure brought a lot~" said Romano, looking at all the food. "We really just needed something to lure it out!"

"We found a clock too. We hadn't broken the clock in this room yet. We weren't sure we should…" said Italy, pointing to the clock they had found. "I'm sure you already know this, but we're going to get out very soon. There's really no need to see memories from the past anymore. And Austria and the others are taking care of things outside."

Germany just stayed quiet through all of this.

"Germany? What's wrong?" asked America, looking over at the silent German.

"Nothing, I was just thinking… Why don't I see any memories from the past? Isn't it odd that I'm the only one?"

"Yeah, I've always wondered about that too," said Italy, thinking about why that could be. "…What universe was it? You see, America said the memories were just forgotten, and that they hadn't actually disappeared. So you should still have them, Germany."

"Maybe they're being passed on?" suggested Romano.

"Passed on?" asked Prussia, confused.

"What I mean is that maybe Germany is the same as Ita?" Romano asked, head tilted. "Some of fratello's memories were passed on to me and we shared them, because we're close~ In Germany's case, maybe all of his memories are being passed on to…someone else?"

"But then, who could that be? Prussia?" Italy asked, confused.

"Nah, I haven't gotten any of bruder's memories," mumbled Prussia, half asleep on his feet.

"No, because you're a little different~" said England with a smile.

"Someone so close to Germany that all of his memories are being passed on to them…" muttered France, thinking.

"…Or someone who matches his wavelength an awful lot…" said Spain, thinking he knew who the memories were being passed to.

"All of my memories? But…someone like that-I don't-" started Germany, confused by all this.

Italy just stared at the ground, thinking.

"Fratello? What's wrong?" asked Romano, looking worriedly over at Italy.

"Could it be…?" muttered Italy, thinking. "No…it…can't be…"

"Italy…" said Prussia, looking up at the half-sane Italian.

"…Italy," said France, seeing how much Italy was struggling to remember.

Everything around Italy turned black except for Germany, standing in front of him.

"That-"

* * *

**A/N: EEEP, NEW TERRITORY! XD *starts laughing* Oh, cupcakes…XD And…Iggy's gonna turn into an angel when he gets all of his magic? Pfft haha! *starts laughing more* Phew, okay, so…ITALY! DX Not 2P Italy, but normal Italy…he had to go through SO MUCH! WAH! *hugs Italy* It's okay! *calms down enough to finish* Review please… And thanks to Arrival of Tears for suggesting those videos!**


	13. Chapter XIII: Moon

"It won't eat," said a frustrated Japan. "Since we went through the trouble of bringing this food, maybe we should force it to eat?"

"Maybe it doesn't like that kind of food!" said England. "Alife, did you bring anything else?"

"What? Oh, well, I do have some raw cabbage," said America, taking out said cabbage.

_It never occurred to me that Germany's memories could be passed on to someone else, _thought Italy, completely ignoring what was going on around him. _If it's true, I'm sure they're being passed on to-_

"Hey, Italy, are you alright?" asked France, looking at Italy.

"France…" murmured Italy, thoughts being disturbed.

"This isn't like you. Usually you're smiling…well, smirking, really… Even if it's just for a moment, couldn't you smile-" France said before being cut off by Italy.

"Listen, France."

"Hm? What?"

"You didn't tell me back then…all this time…even now… I've been waiting for him…"

"Italy…" said France, looking sadly at Italy's face.

"Heh, but now would be impossible… Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"No, it's all right…"

"France, can I ask you something? If there was someone I didn't want to forget me again, what should I do? So like, if you forgot all about me and asked me, 'Who are you?', what should I do?" Italy asked with his hand to his heart.

"Well…" said France, thinking about how to answer.

"You've been breaking a lot of clocks and getting your memories back. If it's too much and they don't all fit…what if you turn out like me and lose your memories?"

France stayed quiet, still thinking. Finally he said, "You must remember him."

"What?"

"You're the only one who knows what it's like to forget something you don't want to forget, right? It's a bit sad, but we'll definitely forget something."

"Yeah…"

"Then you must remember him, so that he'll remember you," said France, looking into Italy's eyes. "You've been remembering us so far, so we also started remembering little by little. Your memories are never really gone, they just sink to the back of your mind… You must keep remembering him, so you can have memories of him at all times."

"Do you have someone you don't want to forget too?" Italy asked, returning France's gaze.

"Well yes… That's why I live with my memories. We nations have to so that we'll never forget…"

"I see… I guess you do say some helpful things every once in a while, France," said Italy, smirking a little now.

"Tch," said France, rolling his eyes and hiding his smile behind his hair.

"Oh, it fell," said Russia from over by the mochi.

"Amazing… How did you do it?" Canada asked.

"I only tried to give it a cupcake!" said England, walking up to the mochi. "Were you that eager to eat it?"

Japan stayed quiet for a moment, inwardly shuddering, before saying, "Well then, shall we insert the metal piece? America, stop staring at it and come help me."

"It looks like my counterpart…" muttered America, crouching down near it. "Do ya want some cabbage?"

Japan rolled his eyes, annoyed at the American. "Fine. I'll do it myself then."

Japan walked up to the hole where the mochi had been stuck and inserted the metal piece.

"There. Now…"

The whole room shook again, causing Prussia to fall down in his half-sleep.

"Whaaa?" Prussia asked as he got up from the floor, rubbing his head.

"Ah, what was that?!" asked Romano, looking around the room.

"I'll check it out," said China, walking out of the room.

"Me too," said Spain, following China.

"I wonder what that tremor was…" Japan wondered aloud after the two had left.

"It came from the hallway," said Russia, looking to the door.

"AH, guys, come here now!" called China from the hallway.

"Let's go. We'll reach the exit soon. And some advice: Don't be surprised," said Italy before leading the others out the door.

"Hmm. I see. You knew," said Germany before leaving.

"Just don't hide in the closet like a coward or anything," said Japan.

"I wouldn't really mind if you went there to build a holiday house, though," joked America.

Russia just silently stood there before saying, "No answer. Did they get killed? Oh well. First the first one…"

…

When Japan walked out of the room, he immediately saw the cause of the tremor.

"There's another flight of stairs. Shall we go up?" Japan asked, looking up the staircase.

Japan was the first one to reach the top, and when he did, he instantly saw the blood covering the walls. He ignored the small room he had entered and went on to the next room, where a clock was painted with blood, all of it surrounding a button.

"This is real blood," said America, looking around the room. "And with those handprints on the entrance… This is definitely the most interesting room we've entered so far."

"It's a bit creepy," said Russia with an insane smirk on his face.

"If you want a clue, go look at the picture on the wall," said Romano, pointing over to the wall.

"Yeah, this doesn't look like a dead end," said Spain, looking around the room with a calculating expression. "There must be some sort of device somewhere."

"It's kind of cold in here…" said China, rubbing his hands together.

"Have you seen the picture on the wall?" asked Canada, looking at said picture.

"No, I haven't," said Japan, walking over to Canada.

"You should. It's a bit…disturbing…"

"This feels much different from what we've seen so far! Perhaps it's the enemy's core?" England wondered aloud, not very disturbed by the room at all.

"The blood on the floor is like a clock," said France, looking at the numbers on the floor.

"If it's possible, I want to solve this without relying much on Italy," murmured Germany too quietly for Italy to hear.

"This place is weird. Be careful," said Prussia, wide awake eyes staring around the room.

"I…remember how this room works," said Italy, looking around the room. "Would you like me to tell you?"

"Iie. If our past selves were able to figure it out, I'm sure we can too. You don't have to interfere," said Japan.

"Tch, fine, suit yourself. I'll just sit back and watch then," said Italy, going over to the wall and leaning against it, his hair shadowing his violet eyes.

Japan walked over to the picture, staring at it and trying to figure out what it could mean.

"There's an 'X' marked in blood on the moon…" muttered Japan, still looking at the picture.

"Have you seen the picture now?" asked Canada, walking over to Japan.

Japan just nodded, too deep in thought to answer.

"There was an 'X' on the moon," Canada told everyone.

"And then the clock on the floor… If we assume it's a clock, and 'X' on the moon and a clock…" murmured Japan, staring at the red 12 by the moon.

"So…the time when there's no moon?" suggested Russia.

"Yeah, but that's too broad. Maybe it has something to do with the seasons," said Germany, trying to figure it out.

"Perhaps the moon tonight! Hmm, no, no…" said England, head tilted to the side and a finger by his mouth on thought. "Ugh, our past selves did solve this, right?"

"Sort of," said Italy vaguely.

"Being outsmarted by our past selves is crazy. Italy, what's that button in the middle of the room?" asked America, walking right onto the button.

"Wait!"

But America had already pressed the button, and a flash of light filled the room.

"Ow!" exclaimed Prussia.

"Tch…" said an annoyed Japan.

"America, be a little more careful!" exclaimed an enraged China.

"Ah, sorry," said America, backing away from the button.

"So if you don't solve it correctly, we take a hit… And that hurt!" exclaimed Romano, also angry at America.

"Hmm, France, you don't look like you're in much pain," said Spain, looking over at France. "Are you…enjoying the pain?!"

"Tch, this is nothing," said France, rolling his eyes. "It was just static electricity after all."

"Wait, France is standing on one of the numbers. Then that means…" started Canada, still thinking. "Maybe we have to stand on the numbers and press the switch?"

"Oh, umm-" Italy interrupted, trying to help.

"No, you don't have to help us. Now everyone, stand on a number," said Germany, walking over and standing on the 6.

"Okay!" said England, walking and standing on the 2.

"Well, now there's no one to press the switch," said Russia, standing on the 8. "Maybe the person on the time where there's no moon should go and press the switch?"

"The moon…" muttered Japan, thinking.

"By the way, Japan can solve this," said Italy suddenly. "If it weren't for Japan, maybe we wouldn't have solved it…"

"Yeah, you're right fratello~ I mean, the moon isn't just that thing in the sky, is it?" wondered Romano, looking over at his brother.

"Hm? I think I got it," said China, looking around the circle.

"Other than the moon in the sky…" murmured Japan. "The Japanese lunar calendar…? The first month is Mutsuki, the second month is Kisaragi. And the third month is…Yayoi…"

"It doesn't have the kanji for 'tsuki' inside! And 'tsuki' or 'zuki' means moon in Japanese," said Japan, who had figured it out.

"Then I'll step off the three," said France, stepping off the three.

"So is it just France who has to move?" asked Prussia from his spot on the 4.

"Oh, umm, also… The fourth month is Uzuki, the fifth is Satsuki, the sixth is Minazuki, the seventh is Fumizuki, the eighth is Hazuki, the ninth is Nagatsuki-"

"So I should-" said Romano, starting to step off the 9, but instead zapping everyone again.

"Watch it!" shouted France.

"No, Nagatsuki does have 'tsuki' in it, baka. It's not the right number," Japan said, rolling his eyes. "Now then, the tenth is Kaminazuki, the eleventh is Shimotsuki, and the twelfth is Shiwasu. The twelfth is Shiwasu and doesn't have 'tsuki' or 'zuki' in it."

"So Italy has to move!" said England, looking to Italy.

"All right then. I'll step off," said Italy before stepping off.

_Wait a minute, there are twelve people, so it all fit. But before, there were only ten people… And there were also times when there were less of us… It feels weird to think about, but when there were ten of us at most, we all had to stand on a number. That's odd… If all ten of us were standing on a number, who pressed the switch? Or maybe… _thought Canada before frantically yelling, "Ah, stop, wait a minute, please!"

"What, what's wrong?" asked Spain, looking over at Canada.

"It's the other way around. It's not that three and twelve are the numbers we don't step on, but the numbers that we do step on! Because…um…" Canada started, suddenly unable to finish his train of thought.

"Right, cuz if there were only ten of us before, and we all stepped on the numbers, there would be no one to press the button," said Prussia, finishing Canada's thoughts.

"True. And even if we had all been alive, it wouldn't have been enough. But if it's just three and twelve, even if only three of us had survived, it would've been enough," said Russia, finishing up the others' thoughts.

"I don't want to think about that," said Germany, shuddering. "But you're right. It's a sound argument. So France, back on your number. Everyone else, step off. Japan, could you press the number?"

"Of course," said Japan, getting off his number and walking to the switch.

Once everyone was off their number, Japan pressed the switch. A bright light filled the room, and a door appeared near the corner.

"Oh, a door," said Japan, looking over at the door.

"Let's check it out then," said America, already headed towards the door.

"Oh, wait!" said Italy.

"What is it?" asked China, looking at Italy.

"I didn't tell you the answer to this room, but in the last room, there'll be a key hanging on the wall… That's the key to the front door. As soon as you get it, you have to run. A monster will come after us, so just run to the front door," said Italy.

"More than usual, you mean. Okay, I'll be ready," said Spain.

Japan walked to the door and opened it, almost immediately jumping back out at the sight in front of him.

"Wh-Wh-What the heck is this place?!" Prussia stuttered, forcing himself to not run away.

"There are so many…" said China, eyes wide.

"C'mon, let's go ahead," said Italy, being the first to walk into the room. "They won't attack us…I think…"

"Right. And besides, with so many enemies, I would rather not think about it," said Japan, following Italy.

Everyone walked past the giant cell, past the many different kinds of monsters, and into the next room. There were more bloody numbers on the floor, but this time not in a clock pattern.

"This room is also quite-" started Japan before being cut off by Italy.

"On that wall, behind that thing!" exclaimed Italy, pointing to a blobby monster.

"Is it going to attack us?" asked Russia, hand on his sword.

"It will if we get close to it, but it's incredibly slow. We can get away from it by just walking. I'll go get the key now," said Italy, walking up to the blob.

"Hey, you're going by yourself again-" Germany started, trying to stop Italy.

_Quickly, we're going to get out! _Italy thought excitedly. _It's really slow, so we'll be fine. The key is on that wall, I'm sure of it!_

"What…?" Italy whispered as the thing moved from the wall, revealing nothing.

"Hey, Italy, there's no key!" exclaimed France, a little angrily.

"No… No, it was always… It was always there before!" exclaimed Italy, eyes wide, a hint of insanity in his voice as he grabbed his hair.

…

"_Is that…a key?" Italy wondered, looking at the wall._

"_Hey, that's a key!" exclaimed Germany excitedly._

"_Tch, I can't use my arm anymore…but I can still use my feet!" exclaimed Prussia, looking at the blob. "I'll take care of the enemy with my feet, and you can get the key."_

"_Germany, did you hear what Prussia just said?" Italy asked, surprise in his voice._

"…_This noise is terrible… But I read his lips. You just talked to me too, right?" Germany asked, looking over at Italy._

"_Yeah… Prussia, please…"_

"_Yeah!" said Prussia before attacking the blob._

…

"I'm sure…this is the right place! Wh-What am I going to do…?" Italy wondered, still clutching his head.

"Italy!" called America, worry in his voice as the blob approached Italy.

Russia jumped forward and attacked the thing before it could harm Italy.

"This isn't going well…" stated France as the blob knocked Russia away.

"Ugh, I really need my magic back!" exclaimed England as he attacked the blob with some knives.

"Oh…" said Prussia as more people attacked the blob.

"We were too late…" said Italy, stepping away from the blob.

"Fratello! Go back!" called Romano, staring at his brother.

"What am I going to do…?" Italy asked, completely ignoring his brother. "Did I…do something wrong? The key…there's no key…"

"Italy! Get out of the way!" called Germany, trying to get Italy's attention.

"What am I going to do?" Italy asked, _still _ignoring the scenario around him.

The whole room shook again, causing people to stop fighting the thing to catch their balance.

"What is it this time?!" exclaimed Prussia, looking around the room.

Romano also started to look around the room, and he suddenly shouted, "Up there!"

"What the-?!" exclaimed Japan as a horde of monsters jumped from the ceiling.

Japan attacked the one closest to him, slashing and jabbing at it. But this one, obviously stronger than the rest, released a cloud of poison. Japan held his breath, but a bit too late as a little got into his mouth. He coughed a little once the poison cloud was gone, trying to get that bit of poison out. The thing took this break to knock Japan over. Japan got up, suddenly remembering something from one of the memories. He jumped up and stabbed the thing right in the forehead. It roared, but it didn't disappear. Instead, even more monsters appeared.

"What?! Again?!" England yelled, trying to hold back the monster in front of him.

"Oh no, they keep coming!" Spain exclaimed, stabbing the monster in front of him.

"It's like it never ends!" America shouted, hitting the flying monster in front of him to the ground.

"And now there are too many! We can't run past them!" exclaimed Canada, looking to the door blocked by a giant monster.

"N-No, I don't want to go back again! Not when we've made it this far!" Italy shouted angrily, trying to keep his sanity.

"Italy!" shouted Japan, trying to help him keep his sanity.

"Let's surround Italy! They're all going after him!" shouted China, running over to Italy.

_After me… _thought Italy, actually hearing China. _That's right… If I… If I were gone…_

"Come on Italy, get down!" shouted Germany, crouched on the floor near Italy.

_Please… Somehow…somehow!_

"Make me-make me disappear somewhere!" Italy screamed aloud, insanity in his voice.

"Fratello!" Romano yelled, knowing what was going to happen.

"Italy's journal!" shouted Japan as flashes of light came from the journal in Italy's hand.

"Italy!" called Germany.

"Germany! My journal!" Italy shouted, looking down at it.

"Let go of it Italy! Ah! You always-"

There was another bright flash of light, and Germany ran forward to try to stop Italy.

* * *

**A/N: *completely freaking out* ITALY! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! DX NUUUUUUUUUU! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! WAH! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! THE STEVES! SO MANY! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! AND…WAH! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! *quickly starts next chapter***


	14. Chapter XIV: Goodbye

"Italy! Hey, Italy! Wake up!"

Italy opened his eyes to Germany standing in front of him. They were standing near each other in a room they hadn't really been in yet.

"Oh, you're awake. Are you alright?" asked Germany.

"Wh-What? What happened to me?" Italy asked, looking confusedly around the room.

"Are you hurt?" asked Germany.

"No… Umm, my journal freaked out all of a sudden, and then, umm…"

"Sorry, I don't really get it either," said Germany, looking at Italy's panic-stricken face. "I remember being surrounded by a lot of enemies but not…the journal freaking out?"

"What, you don't remember, Germany? After I shouted, 'Make me disappear somewhere,' you ran at me as fast as you could," said Italy, looking concernedly at Italy.

"What? Wait a minute… Did you say, 'Make me disappear somewhere'?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I didn't mean I wanted to die. Besides, the fact that we're here means we did disappear from there, right?"

"Well, you do have a point. But my memories of being surrounded by the enemies are a bit fuzzy," said Germany, rubbing his head. "Wait, where are the others?"

"Oh, that's right! What are we going to do? The others must still be fighting!" exclaimed Italy in surprise.

"All right, let's go back then. If we make sure they have a way out, they should be able to retreat. The monsters were in their way before."

Germany and Italy walked out of the room they were in and back into the main entryway.

…

"Hey, is anyone here?" called Germany.

"They're not here. Maybe they went upstairs?" suggested Japan.

"Tch, they're always going off on their own. They came here first and yet they're nowhere to be seen," said America, annoyed.

"Look, let's go back! I told you we can't stay here, so let's go back!" said Italy, desperately trying to get them to leave.

"We told you, you didn't have to come. If you really didn't want to, why did you-" started China.

"I told you! This house is dangerous, I've seen it!" exclaimed a desperate, panicking Italy. "We're going to be attacked by a huge monster and everyone is going to die! It's true, I'm telling you!"

"Heh, what the heck? We're nations, we can't die. You really didn't have to follow us if you were that scared. It's really unlike you…" said a confused Germany.

"Germany…" said Italy, deflated.

"You were taking a siesta before the meeting, right? Maybe you're still half asleep," said Japan, waving Italy's ecstatic behavior off.

"Even you Japan…" muttered Italy, completely giving up on saving everyone.

"Hey, aren't we going to look for those four?" asked Russia, looking to the stairs.

"Stai zitto, Russia!" shouted Italy, annoyed. "I'll look for them! You stay here! Don't go anywhere!"

"Italy, what's wrong with you? It's like you've become a different person all of a sudden, and it's kind of freaky! What happened to your usual self?" asked China, looking over at Italy with a confused expression on his face.

"Then you have to believe what I tell you! And especially you, Japan, don't go to the piano room!" exclaimed Italy, staring desperately at Japan.

"Even if you say so…it will be easier to find them if we split up and agree on a time to meet here again, don't you think?" asked Japan, seemingly ignoring Italy.

"Okay, that sounds good to me. I don't want to be stuck with you all the time, anyway, and if each of us goes where he likes, we can tell each other about the places we searched later," said Russia.

"Don't!" exclaimed Italy, trying to stop them.

"What? Calm down, Italy. It's the best way. If we all went together to look-" started America.

"And you're the only one opposed to it. What are you scared of?" Germany asked, looking at Italy. "I'm sorry, I'm going now."

"Germany, no! I told you not to go that way! Don't go to the basement!" Italy called after Germany's retreating back.

"I'm going too. Let's meet back here in an hour," said China, also walking off.

"I'll start looking over there," said Russia, also walking off.

"Wait, don't split up!" Italy yelled desperately.

"'Kay, I'm starting on the topmost floor," said America, heading to the stairs.

"I guess I'll start on the second floor then," said Japan, walking up the stairs behind America.

"No, wait, Japan, America!" Italy asked, hand outreached to the stairs. "If you do that, then it was pointless to go back in time-"

But the others had already gone out of earshot of Italy's words.

"Now I'll have to go through it all over again. Now that we're in, we can't leave until we get the key," said Italy dejectedly. "First Japan, then China, Russia, and France. America, England, and Canada are still fine. The basement is dangerous, too. I'll call Germany back, and if we go with Japan…"

Italy paused for a moment, thinking.

"I'll have to put on an act. This time, I'll save everyone. Even if I have to trick them, I'm going to save them," said Italy, before turning and shouting, "Ehi, Germany, I'm coming with you!"

"Whoa, what? Are you back to normal?" asked Germany, searching Italy's face for the insanity that had been there before.

"Tch, I was always normal," said Italy, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, let's look for Prussia with Japan. Come on."

"Hey, let go of me!" said Germany, trying to break from Italy's grip pulling on his arm. "I get it! You're tired of being alone-"

"Tch, no!" said Italy, façade almost breaking. "Russia and China are on the first floor, so let's help on the second floor."

"Good grief…" muttered Germany, facepalming.

"Wh-What the heck? Why are we over there?" asked Germany as he walked from the room they had appeared in after Italy had wished he could disappear.

"Oh, I see! This is one of the past memories we're supposed to get when we break a clock…" Italy murmured, as he stared over where the past him and past Germany were standing.

"Oh, like what Japan told us about? But wait, how come I'm seeing it too? I mean, we never even broke a clock!" exclaimed Germany, confused.

"Mm, yeah… Then…what the heck?" Italy wondered, still watching their past selves.

"What, you're here too?" asked England, coming up behind them.

"Eng-wait, what? You can see us?!" exclaimed Italy, eyes wide with surprise.

"Hmm? What? I have no idea what you're talking about! I just heard your voices and came back! Oh, and by the way, I didn't see that monster you told us about~" said England, smiling.

"Oh…" said Italy, still in too much shock to say much.

"Well, we-"

"I see!" said Italy, cutting Germany off. "Listen, we were looking for you guys! Where are the others?"

"H-Hey-"

"Oh, they split up too! There are a lot of rooms that we can't open, so we'll eventually meet up again! I'm going to check out the next room now~ Tata!" said England before walking off.

"Okay. We're going to look around too, then," said Italy as England walked off.

"Italy…why?" asked Germany, turning to look at Italy.

"Ugh, this is terrible Germany!" exclaimed Italy, starting to pace the floor. "Somehow, we've ended up in the past!"

"What?!" exclaimed Germany, watching Italy's pacing.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it! The way I just acted… That's the way I acted in the beginning, when I struggled to keep you from coming here," said Italy, still pacing. "Also, this is the second time loop. It's when everything I said or did was completely useless!" Italy yelled, letting his frustration out. "I still wasn't used to going back in time at all and I made a lot of mistakes. I shouldn't have said those things right there, but I didn't know where the key was yet… I was wrong from the beginning."

"I'm sorry…" said Germany, not knowing what else to say.

"Tch, why are you apologizing, idiota?" Italy asked, turning angrily to face Germany.

"Well…when your past self tried to warn me, I didn't listen and laughed at you when you got so desperate to stop me," said Germany a bit awkwardly.

"Hmph, it's okay. It's mostly cuz I couldn't explain myself well," said Italy before laughing a little. "Of course no one will believe you if all you say is, 'Just believe me!'."

"I'm sorry, even though I couldn't have known. So what should we do now?"

"Well, first we have to get back to our world. Hmm, but if we're seen by our past selves, we might change the future for the worst. So…let's hide for a while until they come back together again, okay?"

"Right. But…where are we going to hide? That thing is in this time loop too, right?"

"Hmm, it's our house, isn't it?" Italy asked, smirking. "Well… In that case, let's go to the third floor, the piano room. It seems I did everything I could to keep them from going there, so no one should show up."

"I see. Let's go there then. And if one of the things shows up…we'll manage somehow."

"Yeah, we're pretty strong now. Let's just be careful not to be seen by our past selves."

…

"You take care of that one! We'll take care of these two!"

"Japan, are you alright?"

"I'll take care of it while you do the chanting!"

"It's really tough…my sword can barely cut it!" exclaimed France, as he slashed at the tough blob in front of him.

"Let's go all three at the same time. Drei, zwei, eins-"

"Cero!" Spain ended for Prussia, attacking the blob.

The three sort-of-friends attacked the blob and defeated it, making it disappear.

"Jump Japan!" called Romano, on the other side of the room fighting with Japan. "I'll distract it for you!"

"Arigatou!" said Japan as he jumped.

"Yoo hoo, over here!" called Romano, waving his arms. He hit it a little, gaining more of its attention. "Arrivederci~"

Japan then jumped from the ceiling, attacking the thing with all his strength, making it disappear almost immediately.

"Great job, Romano!" called Japan, landing neatly on the ground.

Closer to the door, England and China were fighting the last of the monsters.

"Yay!" said England as he attacked the thing with some of his magic. "Now get down China!"

"Right! And don't miss!" called China as he ducked down to the ground.

"Hah! Take that! Sectumsempra!" exclaimed England as his magic hit the monster and made it disappear.

"We have it cornered!" exclaimed Canada from the corner, facing it along with Russia.

"So, what do you prefer?" Russia asked the thing, swinging his sword lazily. "Being burned till not even your ashes remain, or being frozen for the rest of your life?"

Canada shuddered, glad he wasn't on the receiving end of either of those attacks.

"Just kidding, you don't get a choice! And I won't give you any time to have regrets, either," said Russia before attacking the thing with both fire and ice, making it quickly disappear.

"Phew…" said Japan as he walked to the center of the room with the others, panting. "We somehow managed to wipe them clean."

"Italy's journal made a lot of them disappear, thankfully!" said England. "But it was still tough! Well done, Italy-"

"Fratello?" Romano asked, looking frantically around the room.

"Italy? Hey…he's gone, isn't he?" Russia asked, looking around the room.

"Mm? My bruder is gone too!" said Prussia, looking around the room with the others.

"And…America too?" Canada asked, looking around the room too.

"So Italy, Germany, and America are gone? They were the ones closest to the journal, weren't they?" Spain asked.

"There were so many enemies I didn't even notice. I'm sorry, we were supposed to run the moment we secured an exit," said Japan.

"Do you think they're gone because of that journal?" asked China, a bit confused.

"Gone as in dead?" asked France, looking around the room.

"No, that's impossible. I'd look for them, but…I don't know where to start," muttered Prussia, looking at the ground.

"Oh, it's your phone, Japan," said Spain as Japan's phone started to ring.

"Yeah. Be back in a minute," said Japan, walking away from the circle of nations to talk on the phone. He answered the phone and said, "Hai, Japan speaking-"

"What took you so long Japan?" asked the person on the other end.

"Oh…you… Long time no see," said Japan, rolling his eyes a bit. "What do you want?"

"Oh nothing really. Just…wondering what you were doing," said Korea nonchalantly.

"Oh, nothing much," said Japan sarcastically. "Just fighting for our lives, nothing new."

"Hmm, Japan, he just called because he had nothing to do," said China in the background, half-listening to Japan's conversation.

"Yeah, figured as much," Japan said to China.

"Hey, what are you talking about?" asked Korea on the other end. "So, I assume you're alive?"

"Uhh, yeah I'm alive, baka. I heard the enemy got outside. How's it going out there?"

"Tch, piece of cake!" said Korea lazily. "We're clearing the way for you, so get out of there quickly."

"Except we can't right now," supplied China in the background. "We've been in a…dead end for a while."

"Umm, what are you talking about?" Korea asked, hearing China. "If we're here you should all be able to get out."

"But why?" China asked.

"Because we're getting rid of lots out here, so everyone should be able to get out," said Korea, a bit annoyed.

"Right. So we'll all do our best to get out then, right, everyone?" Japan asked the people in the room.

"Yeah. Now that we have some time, our heads have cooled down a bit," said Canada.

"Oh yeah, Japan, I was looking around the house and wondered, are you in an annexe right now?" asked Korea.

"Annexe?" England questioned.

"Ha, you really didn't notice?" asked Austria on the other end of the line before mumbling, "Then again, we did just realize it ourselves…"

"An annexe? What does that mean, anyway? If it's true…" muttered Prussia, thinking.

"Yeah, we need to find a door," said Russia, already headed to the door.

"That house is quite vast. Oh, got to go. We have some business to attend to," said Austria before walking away from the phone.

"Okay, I'm hanging up now," said Korea. "Oh, and Japan?"

"What is it?" asked Japan.

"Show those monsters what Asia is made of," said Korea.

"Tch, that always goes. And you too. Try not to die," said China, smiling a little.

"Thanks. Bye," said Korea before hanging up the phone.

…

"I'm not gonna let you die," said Korea, standing against Austria's back as they faced some monsters.

"Tch, done with your phone call now? Don't just go making phone calls out of the blue! Let me know first!" Austria muttered angrily, holding his knives in front of him.

"Hmph, sorry. Anyway, let's go back to clearing the way for them," said Korea, holding his sword out to the monster, keeping it away from him.

…

"He's very interesting…" said Japan after the phone call ended. "Hope their battle goes well."

"Okay, so let's look for the annexe door now," said Spain. "Maybe that's where Italy and the others wound up. There's still some hope."

"Yeah, we'll definitely find them~" said Romano happily.

"Hai. How about we split up to look for them?" suggested Japan.

…

"So why am I stuck with you two again?" asked an annoyed Japan, looking back and forth between Prussia and Romano.

"I dunno…" said Prussia truthfully. "But there's nothing wrong with working with new people every once in a while. We can be the Little Brother Search Party."

"I do feel a little…out of place…but oh well~" said Romano. "Ooh, and I love that name! Hehe!"

"But wouldn't it have made more sense for you to go with England instead of-" started a still-confused Japan. "Oh, forget it. Let's just go. It won't be a problem if we end up on the same floor as the others."

…

"I think it's about time everyone got together again," said Italy, thinking back to his memories of the second time loop. "We should go now."

"Right. Oh, and by the way, if this is the second time loop, doesn't that mean America and the others are going to get killed?" asked Germany.

"Yeah, America, Iggy, and China. I'd like to help, but," said Italy, shrugging indifferently, "I can't."

"Yeah… Oh, and you haven't found the journal, have you? We have to look for it too."

"That's right. We have to find it before the others do. We probably came back to the past because of the journal. If we find it, I think we'll be able to go back."

"I agree. Now then, let's search for the journal. Carefully, of course," said Germany, heading towards the door.

"Right," said Italy, following Germany to the door.

Germany and Italy headed downstairs, searching in rooms on the second floor.

"The journal's not here," said Italy after he had searched the bookshelves of one room.

They left that room and headed down the hallway, almost immediately spotting the others.

"Crap, Germany, they're right over there," muttered Italy. "We've gotta hide!"

The two of them hid behind a wall, out of sight of the others.

"Is there some kind of trouble? They're making a lot of noise," said Germany, watching them.

"Italy is…dead?" Italy heard Russia say.

"Yeah, you'd better not look. Iggy's prepping the room now…but it looks pretty bad," said America, wincing.

"England!" said Japan as England came out of the room.

"I've taken care of the room…and his wounds too, sort of…" said a not-so-happy England. "France is holding up pretty well, but Germany is still a bit disoriented…"

"I'm…dead?" Italy asked from his hiding place, bewildered.

"You told me this was the second time loop, but maybe you were mistaken?" suggested Germany, looking worriedly at Italy.

"No, I'm sure this is the second time loop!" said Italy, head down.

"Shh, they'll hear you!" whispered Germany, watching the others.

"Sorry," muttered Italy, quieter now. "Wait, now that I think about it, Japan and America said I had died in the second time loop. Maybe that's it? But wait, that means the one I know is…"

"Italy Veneziano…" Italy heard England say over by the door. "The name of the journal's owner… No, that can't be. It looks more like a contract sign page. Let's see what's written inside… What?! 'Ruse to go back in time'?!"

"Ah, they're talking about your journal," said Germany, listening.

"Yeah. But if I died, that means there's no one to go back in time… I wonder what that means, then…" muttered Italy, thinking.

"Bruder, listen to me," said Prussia, loud enough for Germany and Italy to hear from their hiding spot.

"Germany…" said Japan as past Germany walked out of the room.

"Japan…" muttered past Germany, not looking too well. "Do you…know where Italy is?"

Japan stared at Germany in shock, not sure what to say.

"Bruder told me that Italy is gone… You…know that's not true, right?" past Germany asked, looking up at Japan with tear stains on his cheeks.

"Umm…he…he's…" stuttered Japan as Prussia walked out of the room.

Russia stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "Let's go to another room. We have other things to do, like finding out the meaning of that journal-"

"Why? What about Italy?" past Germany asked, looking hatefully over at Russia. "Are you saying Italy doesn't matter?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I know you don't want to accept it, but if you don't accept that he's dead, how much time do you think we're going to waste-" muttered Russia before being cut off by past Germany.

"Don't say the same thing as mein bruder!" shouted past Germany, rushing up and grabbing Russia's coat.

"Russia…" muttered Canada, warning him that he shouldn't say any more.

"It's okay, I can handle this just fine," said Russia, staring down at past Germany. "I'm going to be blunt: He's dead. If you have nothing more to do than stand here, mad, then I suggest you try finding a way out of here as quickly as possible. He's not coming back!"

"No!" shouted past Germany, looking down at the ground, tears falling as he gripped Russia's coat more.

"Calm down bruder!" exclaimed Prussia, slapping him. "Are you numb? You're misjudging a good decision!"

"You're not the only one who's grieving," muttered China.

Past Germany just stayed quiet, staring at the ground.

"Let's go. We should get to another room to talk about the journal," said Prussia, starting to lead his brother away.

"We will be…waiting for you," said Japan as the others started walking upstairs. When only he and past Germany were left, he repeated, "We will be…waiting for you," and then walked up the stairs.

"You're really falling apart Germany," said Italy, coming out of his hiding spot when he thought they were all gone. "I think that's the first I've seen Prussia mad at you."

"Sh-Shut up…" muttered Germany, a little embarrassed. "I'm so pathetic… I wish a hole would just swallow me up…"

"Ha, you Germany?" Italy asked, half laughing.

"Italy?" Italy heard past Germany ask.

"Crap!" Italy said, looking over as past Germany walked up to him.

_Idiot, what are you doing? _ thought Germany, looking at Italy. _Move!_

_But, how could he have seen me? _thought Italy, watching past Germany coming towards him like a deer in headlights.

"Italy… You were there all along…" muttered past Germany, looking happily at Italy. "I knew you were alive!"

"Oh, umm…" said Italy, not knowing what to say. "Uhh, sorry!"

Italy then ran from past Germany, hoping he would just forget about seeing him and leave.

"No! Don't go! Wait!" shouted Germany, chasing after Italy.

"Crap, he saw me!" Italy said after entering a room, pacing in frustration.

"Calm down!" said Germany, looking over at the wall. "Why did you come here anyway? Hey, our house isn't even finished…"

"I know, but I just ran here out of habit! Crap, what are we going to do?!" exclaimed Italy, still pacing the room. "We have to hide!"

"Fine, let's hide behind the curtain!" said Germany, walked over to the curtain where the safe room would've been. "C'mon, hide yourself!"

"Okay, right, you go there, and I'll go somewhere else-"

"That's impossible, there's nowhere else to hide! Let's just hide there together!" Germany said frantically.

"But we can't, there's barely enough room for one person! We won't both fit there!" said Italy, now looking around the room for a hiding place.

"But-"

"Just hide! It'll confuse the other Germany even more if there's another Germany! Just hide!" said Italy, pushing Germany over to the curtain.

"Hey, stop pushing me!" shouted Germany as Italy roughly shoved him behind the curtain.

"Shh, don't talk!" Italy shouted. "Now, where can I-"

Italy was interrupted by past Germany entering the room.

_Crap, I couldn't hide in time! _Italy thought, freezing in place as he heard past Germany coming towards him.

"I-Italy-" past Germany started, staring wide-eyed at Italy.

_Crap, what am I going to do?! _Italy thought, trying to frantically think of a plan. _What am I going to tell him?!_

"Thank goodness, I thought you were dead," said past Germany, walking up to Italy. "Ha, guess it was just a dream!"

"No…I…" said Italy, trying to think.

"Yes, you couldn't possibly die… You're a nation! It was just a dream! Right Italy?!" asked past Germany, gripping Italy's arm.

"Ow, Germany! Listen to me! I-" started Italy before Germany cut him off.

"Yes, that's right. I did find it…odd…that someone like you… Ha, that'd be odd, Italy… Everyone thought you were dead!" past Germany shouted, looking at Italy with insanity in his eyes.

"Germany…" muttered Italy, not knowing what to say as past Germany said random things.

"Everyone thought you were dead… Prußen, Japan…everyone… Isn't that odd?"

"Umm…" said Italy, still at a loss for words.

"Let's go back, Italy. We have to prove to them that you're still alive… Come on. let's go back, okay?" past Germany said, trying to pull Italy to the door.

"Germany?" asked Italy, judging him. _There's something different about him…but what?_

"Let's go back Italy. We made a promise, remember? You promised you would wait for me…and I promised I would come back," said past Germany.

Italy suddenly freaked out and slapped past Germany, too surprised to do much else.

"I-Italy?" asked Germany, staring at the Italian.

"No, Germany, you're not like that! You wouldn't say things like that!" shouted Italy, knowing for the most part what was different about Germany. "You…you're never serious like that! You never make promises like that, you act weak, you- That's not the Germany I know! I know you're not actually that weak!"

Italy stayed quiet after that, staring at the floor in anger.

"You… You…did die."

"…Si."

"I see…" said past Germany, looking at the floor now. "I'm sorry…"

"What?" asked Italy, looking at past Germany with a confused expression on his face.

"I'm so pathetic… I couldn't even let you rest in peace…" muttered past Germany, fresh tears falling to the floor.

_Wait, what? Does he think I'm a ghost or something? _ Italy thought, bewildered. _Hm, but this could work in my favor._

Italy smirked a little before saying, "Germany, I just wanted to…protect everyone…"

"I promised…" said past Germany, not looking up.

"Hm?" asked Italy, head tilted to the side.

"Beds for everyone…a large table…a kitchen…and what else…?" past Germany said, listing the things that he promised to put in the safe room for past Italy.

"Oh…well…" said Italy, trying to think of what was in the safe room.

"It'll take me some time, but I want you to wait. I'll definitely keep my promise to our allies," said past Germany, looking up at Italy now.

"Right. It's a promise," said Italy.

"Hm, I've fallen behind… I'm sorry, but I have to join the others. They'll be waiting for me…" said past Germany, looking down at the ground again.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I can go back."

"I see. Sorry I made you worry. I'm alright now," said past Germany before walking to the door.

"I know…" said Italy. "Goodbye, Germany."

Past Germany then walked out of the room. Italy waited a few seconds before saying, "Phew, he's gone. Tch, that was so weird… But thank goodness. Germany, you can come out now! Hmph, insulted by me after being hit by his brother. Talk about adding insult to injury, huh?"

Italy waited for an answer from Germany. When none came, Italy went over to the curtain.

"Ehi, idiota, I was talking to you!" Italy said, still waiting for an answer from Germany. When there was still none, he taunted, "What, are you sulking?"

"I'm not sulking!" said Germany, starting to come out from behind the curtain. "It's just…I'm so weak!"

"Oh, were you that upset about it? Don't worry; I was even worse the first time around. Everyone besides me was wiped out, after all," said Italy, trying to reassure Germany. "The pure white piano, the pure white sheets, the pure white beds, the pure white floor; they were all painted deep red."

"Yes…" murmured Germany, trying to imagine what that would've been like.

"But still, no one blamed me. Most of them smiled and told me they were sorry they couldn't be with me till the end," said Italy, staring at the ground as he remembered. "You and Prussia were the last to die. I just couldn't believe it. After that, I lost it and started breaking everything in the house. There was no one to stop me or yell at me…I was ready to give up. It was…pretty tough."

"That was the first time, as in the time before this time loop we're in right now. I'm jealous that you have someone to get mad at you," muttered Germany with a small laugh. "I'm sorry, it must be tough to talk about…"

"Yeah, but that's thanks to everyone. Anyway, let's go look for the journal now."

"Right. But wait a second. Can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure," said Italy, not sure what that might be.

"I want you to see this world's Italy…or rather, I'm going to see him. Do you want to come with me?"

"No…I'd rather not. It would be pretty weird to see myself dead. I'll just wait in the hallway."

"Okay. I'll be right back," said Germany before leaving the room and heading to where past Italy was.

When he entered the room, he immediately saw flowers scattered around where Italy was lying.

"How strange…" muttered Germany, looking down at past Italy's seemingly asleep face. "Not that long ago you were desperately trying to stop everyone at the front door…"

Germany stood there for a few moments, just looking and thinking about if this were actually his Italy.

"I'm so sorry… There are…so many things…I want to tell you…"

Germany walked to the side of the table past Italy was laying on, crouching near him.

"Heh, so this is what it feels like to lose a friend," said Germany as a few tears fell. "Ugh, this won't do."

Germany wiped the tears away, not wanting Italy to call him a big crybaby. He took a deep breath and continued.

"First, an apology. I'm sorry I laughed at your opinion. Also…you… You're probably going to keep going through many time loops now. To do it all over again…desperately trying to get us to escape…over and over…" Germany took another deep breath after saying this. "For some reason, I don't get back my past memories. That's why I would like to keep my promise to you in my own way. It's quite a long story, but don't worry. I'll keep my word no matter what. The Italy who is with me now is no longer alone. That must be what you were dreaming of. Everyone is with you now. It definitely wasn't just a dream… There will definitely come the day when you will experience it first-hand. Until then… Until then, rest in peace, Italy."

Germany was now full out crying, tears streaming down his cheeks as he picked up a rose from the ground and put it into past Italy's cold hands. Germany then got up, wiping away his tears before walking out the door and finding Italy in the hall.

"Hey, Germany. How was I?" asked Italy when Germany walked up.

"You were sleeping quite contently," said Germany, looking at the ground.

"I see. It was probably because I felt content protecting everyone. But no I know that that content feeling is a mistake."

"Right. A mistake."

"Hey, don't cry Germany!" said Italy, watching Germany's face. "I am alive, and now I know better!"

"Be quiet!" said Germany angrily before whispering, "I am mourning you know. How can you be so nonchalant?"

"Hmph. Thanks for crying for me though. It feels good to know that people actually care about me," mumbled Italy almost incomprehensibly. "It's good to have allies. That's why I want to get out together."

"Of course. And you shouldn't blame yourself or anything-"

"I've been considering-"

"Italy…What's-" Germany started when Italy stopped.

Italy stared behind Germany, surprise in his eyes. Germany turned around and saw America.

"Amer…ica…" said Italy, not knowing if it was the past America or not.

_Oh no… He was supposed to think that Italy was dead! He shouldn't have run into us now- _Germany thought.

"Hey, are you by any chance…?" Italy asked, staring intently at America's face.

"Hey, Italy!" said Germany when Italy started to walk up to America.

"A-" Italy paused for a moment, thinking. "Al…lan?"

"What?" Germany exclaimed, not really getting it at first.

America was quiet for a moment before saying, "Luciano and…Kaspar?"

"Oh, I see!" said Germany, getting it now. "So it is you!"

"Wait, so you guys ended up here too?!" exclaimed America, running over to them now. "What the heck, you scared-mmpf!"

"Shut up, they're upstairs," said Italy, putting a hand over America's mouth.

"Sorry, I'm just relieved. I thought I was all alone here and…felt pretty helpless…" muttered America quietly. "So why is Germany crying? Why did he have to have such a sharp eye now of all times…?"

"Oh, it's cuz I died in this world. He just came back from the room I was in," said Italy, pointing down the hall.

"Oh, so this is the second time-," said America, remembering what he saw of the second time.

"You were right, America, I did die in the second time loop. But it's not how I remember it…" said Italy, thinking of his memories of the second time.

"I don't doubt your memories. Something must be going on. Oh, and…thanks for trying so hard to save us," said America.

"What? Oh, you mean from this world. Uhh, thanks to you too," said Italy a bit awkwardly.

"So, what are we going to do now? I figured that since I wound up here because of the journal, if I found it, I would be able to go back-"

"We think so too. But we don't have it, so…" said Germany, interrupting America.

"And we can't take this world's journal either. What are we going to do? I guess we'll just have to keep looking for it," said Italy, determination in his voice.

"Whoa, what was that?!" exclaimed Germany as the whole house started to shake violently.

"An earthquake? But it feels kinda different-" started Italy.

"…Iggy…?" wondered America, looking up at the ceiling. "Iggy's doing…something… What the heck? I don't know what he's trying to accomplish, but it must be something absurd!"

"Something…?!" Italy exclaimed, knowing almost immediately what it was.

"I don't know! But this rumble in the ground often happened when he did one of his incantations. And it isn't something he can do for the heck of it… What does he think he's trying to do?!" exclaimed America, trying to think of what England would be doing.

"Something absurd…" murmured Italy, thinking.

There was a sudden flash of light, and the ground continued to shake. After a few more flashes of light, the three nations looked around.

"Huh? Compared to all that racket, that was nothing much," said Italy, looking around.

"Hm, you're right. Maybe it was just an earthquake?" suggested Germany.

A sudden noise downstairs made the three nations look up.

_Was that sound the front door? _America wondered.

"America?" America heard as he headed to the stairs.

"Hey, guys, look. The front door!" said America, looking down the stairs at the entryway.

"What happened?"

…

"Hey, is anyone here?" called past Germany, looking around.

"They're not here. Maybe they went upstairs?" suggested past Japan.

"Tch, they're always going off on their own. They came here first and yet they're nowhere to be seen," said past America, annoyed.

"What the heck is going on?" Germany asked, looking past America's shoulder down the stairs.

"No way, we've gone back in time," muttered Italy, staring hopelessly down the stairs.

"We've gone back in time even though Italy is gone? So someone else made us go back in time," said America, already able to guess who that someone was.

Italy stared down the stairs for a while, unsure of how to say what he wanted to say.

"I'm going to die very soon…" he finally decided to say, looking at his past self.

"Italy, what's the matter?" asked Germany, looking worriedly over at Italy.

"I'm forgetting something. But what? Something someone told me-"

"Crap, looks like they're coming upstairs," America interrupted Italy, pointing down the stairs. "I just can't believe they can't hear us."

"Right, let's hide on the third floor again Italy. And Italy, you should hide first," said Germany, heading away from the stairs.

"Uhh, okay," said Italy, quickly walking away from the stairs.

…

"Remember, we have to look for a secret door hidden somewhere in this house," said Japan as he walked out of the room he had been in and into the room that held the monsters. "Even the slightest changing detail in a room can reveal something. Look at any walls that look odd or different."

Romano and Prussia followed Japan out of the room and back down the stairs they had found. When they were back on the fourth floor, they saw a not very happy England and Spain.

"You can leave the fourth floor to us!" said England, turning away from Spain to look at Japan. "You go downstairs!"

Japan rolled his eyes at being bossed around by England but went downstairs anyway. At the bottom of the stairs he was met with Canada and France.

"Leave the third floor to us," said Canada. "And no acting on your own!"

Japan went down to the second floor, not surprised when he saw Russia and China.

"We'll investigate the second floor. You can take care of the first floor," said Russia, motioning to the stairs.

So Japan headed downstairs, stopping at the base of the stairs before deciding to go to the Japanese-ish-style room. Japan, Romano, and Prussia split up when they reached the room, looking in different places. Suddenly Romano said, "Hm?"

"What's wrong, Romano?" Japan asked, walking over to Romano.

"It sounded different when I knocked here~" said Romano, knocking on the spot he had mentioned.

"Oh, it does," said Japan, knocking on the spot himself.

"It's not solid," said Prussia, walking over to where Japan and Romano were standing. "There's clearly something there. Why don't you tear the wallpaper away?"

"We can't do it with our bare hands," said Japan, trying to rip the wallpaper. "We need something to cut it with…"

"We have our weapons~" said Romano, taking out a knife and slicing through the paper. "See?"

"Right," said Japan, taking out his sword and slashing away the last of the paper.

"Nice…" said Prussia, looking into the hole Japan had just created.

"A door~" said Romano, looking into the hole with Romano.

"Nice job in noticing it sounded different," Japan complimented Romano. "There was a door like this in the basement. Do you think this is the annexe door?"

"This is where fratello is, right?" asked Romano, still staring into the doorway.

"Hai," said Japan, also looking into the doorway.

Prussia just stayed quiet, staring into the doorway.

"Oh, and your brother too," said Japan, looking briefly at Prussia.

"Right…" muttered Prussia, silently thankful. "I hope he's okay…"

"Me too!" wailed Romano, ready to charge down into the darkness.

"Oi, don't let your guard down," said Japan, stopping Romano. "You're much too nervous."

_I hope they come back soon, _thought Japan, looking down into the darkness. _We've opened a new door._

…

"It's that time again," said Germany, looking to the door of the piano room they were in. "I think we can go out now."

"Hey Italy, your head feeling better?" asked America, looking down at the Italian on the ground with his head between on his knees. "If it's too bad, I'll go look for the journal with Germany."

"No, I'll be fine," said Italy, getting up from the floor. "Let's look for the journal. How about we start on the first floor-"

Italy was suddenly cut off by England entering the room.

"Oh~?" England wondered as he walked in, head tilted to the side, a small smirk on his face.

_Iggy! _America thought, surprised.

"What, you again?" asked England, walking up to them. He stopped and winced in pain a bit, holding his shoulder.

"Uhh, yeah… Hey, what happened to your shoulder?" asked America, trying to distract England.

"Nothing, it's nothing!" said England, waving it off.

Italy was watching England curiously, since England was staring intently at him.

"What? There something on my face?" Italy asked angrily.

"No~" said England, still staring. "I see, so that's it!"

"Iggy, your shoulder's bleeding," America stated, watching as blood soaked the cotton-candy-pink jacket.

"Oh, so it is!" said England, looking at it. "Don't worry, though!"

_England's clothes are getting all bloody, but he was just fine when he walked in, _thought Italy, staring at England's shoulder with a curious expression.

"Say, my little Alfie~" said England, walking away from the piano. "What exactly is your purpose here?"

"Huh? Well…to escape with everyone," said America, watching England curiously.

"I know that, silly!" said England with a smile. "What I want to know is why you're in this world!"

America stared at England. surprised.

"How about I be even blunter~" said England. "Tell me what you, Italy, and Germany are doing here! Why have you come to this world?"

"We're looking for the journal," said Germany when America didn't answer.

"Germany!" exclaimed Italy with a harsh glare at Germany.

"We can't find it anywhere," Germany continued, ignoring Italy. "Without it, we can't go back. That's why…"

"Hm, then go back already!" said England, tossing the journal to them. "Just loitering around in this world, making a racket~"

"The journal!" exclaimed Italy, picking it up off the ground. "It was with you England?"

"I found it on the first floor!" said England, suddenly freezing. "Ugh, you have to run! They're feeding it!"

"Hey, what are you talking about?" asked Italy, staring intently at England.

England didn't answer, just waited. The giant monster entered the room as if on cue, stopping in the doorway and observing his prey.

"Well, looks like it's here~" said England, turning to face the monster. "You guys go back and don't intervene anymore!"

"Wait, are you going to fight it alone?" America asked, bewilderedly watching the monster come closer. "You can't!"

_They're feeding it? Who? The enemy? _Italy wondered. _My wounds…_

…

"_Sorry, we don't have much time! You're going to die very soon! Listen to what I have to tell you~" said England._

"_What, wait…I don't understand," said Italy._

"_Just listen to me, that's all you have to do! Don't go to the second floor! That's all!" said England._

…

"Oh…" muttered Italy.

"Sigh, what a nuisance!" said England as the monster walked closer.

There was a sudden flash of light, and America said, "I can't move!"

"Don't worry, I'll die before it can attack you~" said England, facing them as his body started to glow with a red color. "I'll teleport you back, along with the journal, using what little magic I've got left!"

"Wait, you're-" said Germany before being cut off.

"Please, cut it off!" said England.

Germany, Italy, and America disappeared in a flash of light as England teleported them back. Once they were gone, the door opened and America entered the room.

"Oh, I haven't seen this room before. I think Italy told us not to come here-" America stopped as he saw England and the monster. "England, what are you doing?"

"Oh…it's you…" England muttered, barely able to stand as America ran over to him. "This whole room is going to blow up in thirty seconds… You have to run!"

"England!" America shouted, watching as England used up the last of his magic, shoulder, and now eye, bleeding.

_Where did these wounds come from? _America wondered, looking at England's shoulder and eye. _Thirty seconds… Even if I take him out into the hallway, that thing will just chase us… and attack the other…_

America stood in thought, wasting precious seconds.

"I'm going to stay by your side," America finally decided, now holding England up.

"Idiot…" muttered England, a faint smile on his lips.

"Only this time, yeah, you're right," said America as the room started to shake. There was a loud bang, and the room exploded.

…

"What? America?!" Japan exclaimed as Italy, Germany, and America suddenly appeared next to him.

"Bruder, you're back," said Prussia, looking at his brother.

"Are you hurt fratello?" Romano asked, looking his brother over.

"America!" exclaimed Italy, looking over at America with a worried expression.

America just stood there, head down and fists clenched.

"America…" muttered Germany.

"CRAAAAAPPPPP! ! ! ! ! !" America shouted, stumbling over to the wall and leaning against it. "He's kidding me!"

Everyone stared at the American for a few seconds before Italy turned away and said, "Oh yeah, I remembered a few more things."

"Really?" asked Japan, curious as to what they were.

"There _was _someone else who could make time go back," said Italy.

"Really?" asked Prussia, looking away from America.

"It's England. It was him…" Italy said.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I know 2P America isn't actually Alfie…he's Allan…but I like 'my little Alfie~', so I'm using it! :P And oh wow…(in normal game) Romano-"Do you have something like a glass shard?" Japan-"Why yes, I found this *holds up glass shard he's hung on to since beginning* Will it do?" Me-"*facepalms* REALLY?! Really. REALLY. You have sharp WEAPONS! Come ON!" XD Oh yeah, annexe…it's French for annex…so I was debating putting annex in every language, but decided to just keep annexe… Haha, anyway…EPIC chapter here! XD Review please~**


	15. Chapter XV: Annexe

"You're kidding me!" shouted America angrily. "What good is stopping it if you're dead?!"

"America, stop punching the wall," Japan said, annoyed and confused by America's behavior. "Look, you're bleeding."

"America…" muttered Italy, watching the angry American.

America finally snapped out of it and turned back to the others saying, "Sorry. I'm back."

"Yeah, good to see you," muttered Japan. "Now, could you tell us where the heck you've been?"

"Well, we wound up in the past, and I died-no wait, found the journal and… Umm…" Italy paused, trying to sort out all of his memories.

"Hey Italy, what's wrong? Are ya confused?" Prussia mumbled, looking over at Italy's confused face. "You should probably rest."

"Hey, what's with that door?" Germany asked, noticing the doorway the others had opened for the first time. "What happened?"

"It's the entrance to the annexe~" said Romano. "If you want more info, ask the others~ We're going in now!"

"Annexe- Wait, what are you talking about? And you know you can't go in there alone. We're coming with-" said Italy before being cut off by Japan.

"Iie, we'll be fine," said Japan. "We're only going to take a quick look around, then come back. And it'll most likely have a dead end anyway. Besides…we can talk about going back in time and stuff later. We're not going to go back anymore anyway, so investigating is our first priority."

"Well, all right," said Italy hesitantly. "I'll just sort everything out in my head then. C'mon America, you want to see England, right?"

"He's on the fourth floor. Bruder, you can walk them up and then come back. Italy, you stay with America," said Prussia, strangely alert.

"Fine. Let's go," said Germany, ready to lead the others out of the room.

"Okay," Italy sighed. "Come on America, let's go."

Once the three countries had left, Prussia looked up from the ground, still alert.

"The past, huh? If America's like that, England must've been killed," said Prussia.

"Hai, that's probably it, but Italy'll take care of him. Now let's go ahead. Carefully though," said Japan as Romano happily headed for the dark doorway.

"It looks like there's a hidden staircase~" said Romano, peering into the darkness. "It goes down and down… But it's really narrow!"

"So narrow that only one person can go at a time?" Japan asked, also peering into the darkness. "Guess I'll go first then. Anyone have a flashlight?"

"I found this lighter earlier, will it do?" Prussia asked, taking said lighter out of his pocket. "Be careful."

Japan nodded and headed down the stairs into the darkness. After about a minute or two, Japan said, "Okay, I got all the way down."

"Okay, here we come~" said Romano, heading down with Prussia trailing behind him.

Japan looked around the room when the others had come down. When he shined the lighter into a corner, he saw a sparkling object. He picked it up, looking it over, before putting it into his pocket. They headed out of the first room and through a doorway. Japan looked into a room with a table in it, finding another of the mysterious lumps under the table. Also in the room was a lever, but Japan decided to leave it for later. So he led the way out of the room and to another door, opening it and finding a large room that looked like a small library. Prussia stopped by a table to look at the papers on it while Japan looked around the rest of the room. After looking for a while, he found another mysterious lump in the far corner. He stuck it in his pocket with the other two before calling Prussia from the table and heading out of the library into another room. This room didn't lead to any other rooms, so Japan picked up the last mysterious lump and set it on the ground, taking the other three out of his pocket and putting them on the floor next to the other.

"So, a dead end," said Prussia, walking into the room. "So, what's with all the weird sparkly lumps we've been finding?"

"They don't look harmful, and we can touch them," said Japan, looking at the strange lumps on the floor.

"But is that really safe?" asked Romano, also looking at the strange lumps. "I mean, haven't you picked up too many of those now?"

"They feel really warm and…sad. Should we keep them?" wondered Japan.

There was a sudden noise outside the door.

"Be quiet," whispered Prussia, standing completely still.

"I knew it would find us…" muttered Japan, looking to the doorway with his hand on his sword.

"It's here," said Romano as the thing walked through the door.

"You two stand back. I've got this," said Prussia, pulling out his rusty sword and facing the monster. He slashed at it with all his strength. But as his sword hit the monster, it shattered.

"M…my sword…" Prussia muttered, looking down at his broken sword in shock.

"Don't worry!" said Romano, taking a gun out of his pocket. "If swords won't work, I'll just- WAH, the bullets won't come out!"

While Romano tried to get his gun to work, Japan took out his sword and faced the thing.

"Look out, both of you! I'll just-"

But Japan was too slow. The thing raced forward and attacked the preoccupied Romano.

"Ah, it just got absurdly fast!" he screamed, jumping away from the thing that was right next to him while pulling out some knives. "And he tore my clothes a little too!"

"My sword…" Prussia muttered, completely oblivious to everything going on around him. "My sword…"

"You're in the way! You're going to get hit!" shouted Japan, pushing Prussia aside and knocking him out of his stupor in the process. "Aargh!"

"Japan!" shouted Romano as Japan was hit.

Suddenly, everything faded around the three, and they were back in the safe room.

"Nani?!" Japan shouted, looking around in surprise.

"Hey look! I actually did it!" said England, clapping.

"Hmm, I'm impressed, gâteau dame," France said, eyebrows slightly raised. "Sorry for bringing you back so suddenly. Were you in the middle of something?"

Japan glared at France's smirking face while Romano muttered, "We're saved?! Why all of a sudden-"

"Well, when I was searching the fourth floor, I found some odd lumps of magic and figured my past self had left them!" England interrupted. "I don't know the exact details, but now I have more of my magic back! And besides, we were worried you wouldn't come back, and my little Alfie was sulking about something!"

"I'm not sulking…" America grumbled from his sulking corner.

"He started saying he could teleport you all back and then did it. It was quite impressive," said Russia, slightly smirking.

"Stop teleporting people," grumbled America. "The people you teleported didn't even give you their approval."

"Hey, bro, what's wrong?" Canada asked, glancing confusedly over at his brother. "You haven't really been yourself for a while now."

"America, how about you get some rest," suggested Italy, turning to America. "Wait, you've got blood on your clothes. How about you go take a bath-"

Italy was abruptly cut off by America.

"This is from when England came to use his magic to-"

"Right, when you grabbed him. He was bleeding a lot…" Italy interrupted America.

"Umm, what?" England asked, looking confusedly over at the two.

"Italy, go take a bath. It'll take your mind off of things," said Germany, avoiding England's question.

"Yeah, good idea," said Italy, getting what Germany was doing. "Come on America, let's go and calm down a little."

"Fine," grumbled America, following America into the bathroom.

"Sorry, he's gone through a lot," Germany said when the two were in the bathroom.

"Sí, it looks that way," said Spain. "Didn't you say you wound up in the past?"

"Ja, and both Italy and England lost their lives. It was a big blow for both me and America," muttered Germany, trying not to cry.

"Hmm, that's so weird… Anyway, you look pretty worn out too, so why don't you go take a bath too!" said England, seeming almost unfazed by the news of his past self's death.

"You're right," said Germany, already heading towards the bathroom. "I am pretty tired…"

"Hey, thanks for saving us," said Japan, looking at England. "You saved us just in time, too. Oh, by the way, we found a lot of these."

England suddenly ran up to Japan, staring at the things in his hands.

"Ah! What have you got there?!" England exclaimed.

"What, these? We found them lying on the floor in the annexe. Do you know what they are?" Japan wondered, stepping slightly away from England.

"Oh, those are the 'lumps of magic' England was talking about," said Spain, looking at the sparkly lumps in Japan's hands. "I wonder why there were some in the annexe."

"Hmm, good thing we picked them up then," said Prussia, looking at the lumps with more curiosity now.

"Oh, and there's this much? This'll bring my magic up a considerable amount!" said England happily, reaching out to take the lumps. When he had taken them, a bright light flashed around him and he said, "Yes, this is good! Now then, I think I'll give it a shot! This room is a bit dirty! I think I'll clean it up!"

A bright flash of light came from England, and when it went away, the room was completely free of its previous clutter.

"Well, that certainly cleaned it up," said Japan, looking around at the now clean room.

"You saved us all that cleaning work," said China, also looking around the now-clean room. "Now what do we do?"

"America seems to be having a hard time," said France before suddenly noticing Prussia's sword. "Hey, what happened to your sword?"

"It, uh, broke," said Prussia, glancing down at the hilt he was holding in his hand. "It must've been from using it a lot, and from how old it already was… Hmm, what am I going to do now? I can't just fight barehanded."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, my bullets weren't coming out either! Hey Germa- Oh wait, he's in the bathroom," said Romano, taking his gun out and looking it over himself.

"Oh, so that was bruder's?" asked Prussia, looking at the gun in Romano's hand. "Here, let me see it. I'll fix it for you."

"Well, this is troublesome. But we have gone through a seemingly continuous stream of battles. Why don't we all rest while those three are in the bath," said Japan, stifling a yawn.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Thanks to the journal, a lot of the enemies were gone, but where did they go?" wondered Russia.

"Well, if those three ended up in the past, then the enemies also-" England said before stopping, not really wanting to think of what happened to them. "Oh…"

…

"America, come on. You're taking way too long," said Italy, obviously already done with his bath.

"Hey Italy, can I ask you something about the earlier time loops?" America asked, completely ignoring what Italy had just said.

"Uhh, sure," said Italy.

"Was there a time when only England died?"

Italy was silent for a moment before saying, "Si, there was. Since he had all that magic, he would do all he could, but there was a time when he used too much power. And then…"

"But even then, you went back in time?" America wondered.

"Yes, because my goal was to get everyone to escape. I couldn't lose anyone," said Italy, staring at the floor in thought.

"But why would you go back? Don't you hate England?" America asked confusedly. "And not only England. We're all slightly afraid of Russia. Hmm, you went through a lot in the past, didn't you? Why would you go so far for their sake-"

"Well, come to think of it…I hardly feel hatred for them anymore…" said Italy, smiling a little.

"What?" America asked.

"Sure, I may find them unpleasant, or want to kill them, but I haven't really hated them for a while now, most likely because of how long I've been stuck here…" said Italy.

"Even if we can all get out of here, you're going to fight one of us, you know," said America, confused by Italy's behavior.

"Well, yeah, no duh. It's something we do all the time," muttered Italy.

"But you're still going to help us?"

"Yeah… I've thought about it. If we do all get home, and I get in a fight with you, for example. A fight so big we hate each other forever."

"Yeah, definitely can't say that wouldn't happen," America said, smirking.

"Yeah," Italy said, rolling his eyes a little. "So if it came to that, suppose you got stuck in a situation similar to this."

"Go on."

"In that case, I would try to forget all about our fight and try to save everyone, like I'm doing now," said Italy.

America stayed silent, listening to Italy say things he never would've said before coming to the mansion.

"If I can do something about it, I'll help. Because we're all nations. We fight each other, help each other out, and together we can do things that we wouldn't be able to do on our own," said Italy, still smiling a little. "I get this now. So if I helped you, and you asked, "Weren't we fighting?" I would remember. But right now, that doesn't matter to me. If we get out and fight again, which will definitely happen, or if something like this happens again, I'll help you. But not as Italy, as Luciano."

America stayed silent for a few seconds more, letting Italy's words sink in, before saying, "You really are amazing."

"And what about you America?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you hate me or England? Because you already know that I don't hate any of you anymore, which is why I'm helping you," said Italy. "So are you any different?"

"No. I don't…hate you…" muttered America awkwardly. "I've been through a lot with both of you, but in the end, we're nations, and we have to stick together. Just like you've been doing with the rest of us so far."

"Yeah, so let's work together," said Italy.

_If I were to follow your example, _thought America, closing his eyes and sighing, _Italy, I'm sure you'd disagree. But I'm sorry. I can't allow this to happen. I don't plan on breaking my promise. If…if that memory is true, I-_

America's train of thought was broken as the door opened.

"What's wrong with America? Why isn't he out of the bath yet?" Germany asked, walking up to Italy.

"Oh, hey Germany. Say, do you like me and America?" Italy asked, head slightly tilted.

"Uhh, what are you talking about?" Germany asked, looking confusedly at Italy.

"Well, you see…" said Italy, explaining everything he and America had just talked about.

…

"Wait, so the enemy wound up in the past too?" Italy asked, eyes slightly wider.

"So if that's true, doesn't that mean they ended up in the same time loop as us?" asked Germany, looking slightly scared. "Shouldn't we go back and kill them?"

"Yeah. We're able to fight them now, and out past selves wouldn't be able to defeat them. And if someone dies because of that, it may change this reality…" said Italy worriedly.

"Umm, if that's what you're worried about, it's okay. I already killed it," stated America.

"You did? When?" Canada asked, looking at his brother confusedly.

"Unlike Germany and Italy, I wound up in the basement, along with the enemy" said America, shrugging. "It was already slightly weakened, so it wasn't that hard to kill it."

"You wound up in the basement?" Germany asked, slightly surprised. "But there was more than one enemy. We should go back and check, just in case."

"Well, while you two were on the third floor, I searched the whole place and no one found me. It turned out there was only that one enemy. The second time loop's fine," said America. "And besides, I don't want to go back there…"

"You're still not over that?" England asked with a smile. "Well, never mind~ We're going to split into two groups-one to go to the annexe, and one to go back and kill the enemy in the past! Any objections?"

"So now we're free to choose who will go to the past?" Japan asked.

"Why yes! Come now, who do you think I am?" England asked cheerily. "I'm quite strong now that I have my power back!"

"Hmm… I think I'll go back then," said France.

"I'll go too," said China.

"Me too," said Russia.

"I'll come with you too. Bro, what're you gonna do?" Canada asked, looking over at America.

"I'll stay. I wanna check out that annexe," said America.

"Okay~ Then the four of you, stand near the circle!" said England, pointing to the circle he had just made in the middle of the floor. "Oh Italy, could you please give me the journal?"

Italy looked confused, but still gave the journal to England.

"Now, I'll leave this journal with you!" said England, handing the journal to Canada. "When you've defeated the enemy, turn it to the last page and you'll come right back! Be careful not to interact with our past selves in any way! You have to do as the journal says, without changing the past! And come back as soon as you kill the enemy~"

"Oui," said France, walking up to the magic circle along with China, Russia, and Canada. "Well then, we'll be back soon from our killing spree. Take care."

"Sí, you too," said Spain as the four disappeared in a flash of light.

"Now, those whose weapons are being repaired should stay here," said Japan, looking pointedly at Prussia and Romano. "And those who just came back from the past should stay here also."

"Nah, I'll go to the annexe," said America, wanting some more action.

"Hmm, is that so? Then-"

"Wait, I'll go instead of you, Japan," said Italy, interrupting Japan. "So then it'll be me, England, and America."

"Are you strong enough for that?" England asked teasingly. "Well in that case, the three of us will go!"

"Si," said Italy, heading to the door with England and America.

Once the three had left the safe room and gone down to the annexe, they started to look around some, finding three more mysterious lumps and making England very happy.

"You know, I can't remember if we've ever been here or if I've just forgotten about it," said Italy, stopping near a bookshelf and looking around the gloomy room.

"It can't be just this!" said England, also looking around the room. "I'm going to take a look in that other room!"

"America, what do you have in mind?" Italy asked after England had left.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing at all. You're the one who said we should all work together-"

"Can I tell you something, as your senior?" Italy interrupted, smirking a little when he said senior. "If you're going to lie, at least make it look convincing, or else people will see right through you, just like it happened to me."

"Tch, what are you talking about?" America asked, rolling his eyes. "I'm fine. Just look at me. Does it look like I'm hiding anything?"

"You know, America…" said Italy, rolling his eyes a little at America's behavior.

"What?" America asked.

"Maybe you should have learned to smile a little more naturally," said Italy, repeating what America had once said to him.

America's eyes flashed with annoyance as he said, "To think that you'd say that to me. It's like I'm getting a taste of my own medicine. But Italy, I-"

"I couldn't find a thing!" said England, walking out of the other room. "Perhaps there's a clue in these shelves! You two look over there and-"

"Hey England, I'm pretty confident in my skills and abilities," America said suddenly, interrupting England. "That's why I was able to grow up and come this far. Isn't that right?"

"Umm, what?" England asked, looking at America as he walked over to stand in front of him.

"That's why I won't accept it. Even though you died, you saved me in the end… But if it were up to me, I'd rather be the one doing the saving," said America, sounding strangely like his counterpart. "And I'll prove it to you. This time, I'll save you guys."

Just as America finished his somewhat touching speech, a monster jumped down from the ceiling, ready to attack.

"Aah!" Italy yelled, surprised, as he took out some knives.

America shoved England out of the way and hefted his bat in front of him, ready to attack the thing.

"Ow!" England said as he ran into the wall. "Hey, America, you-"

America swung his bat, hitting the thing right in its chest. But nothing happened.

"Wait, it didn't work?!" America exclaimed as the monster came up to him.

"Watch out!" England yelled. "What are you thinking?"

"CRAP!" America shouted.

"AMERICA!" Italy shouted.

_England. I saved you, didn't I? I protected you, didn't I? _

* * *

**A/N: And…done! Yay! Wow, some parts of this one were really hard to turn to 2P… *sighs* Hope it's okay though! Haha, and listening to Kyo and Dignified do this is actually kind of fun! XD Anyway, me gusta mucho reviews y favorites y follows! Gracias to everyone who has done so already! **


	16. Chapter XVI: Darkness

_England. I saved you, didn't I? I protected you, didn't I?_

"Idiot~" England chirped, magic flowing from his fingers.

"What?" America asked, looking around them and finding they were in the piano room.

"What you did didn't really save anyone, you know!" England said, smiling like a madman.

"England?" America asked, confused.

"Hmm…" England hummed, thinking. "Do you know what a gentleman is?"

"Uhh, what? Well, umm…"

"A gentleman always saves people ahead of the hero you're trying to be!" said England with a glance at the scowling America. "That's why this came to my mind! About now, you'll be surprised~ And then…"

"England…" America muttered, a bit of anger in his voice.

"Listen, America…" England said, pausing for effect.

"What?" America asked, slightly annoyed by England's dramatic pause.

"Not being alone in your last moments is surprisingly not that bad!"

America stared at England's still-cheerful face and stayed silent, thinking of how to respond to that.

"I guess you're right," he finally said.

_America, I paid you back~ Please take my power to the future! If you're really trying to be like your counterpart, you can do that, right?_

…

"That's-" Italy started, staring at America.

"A barrier…" muttered America, looking at the glowing circle surrounding him. "What the heck is this?"

_It's the same as when England teleported us! _Italy thought, still surprised. _But why? He wasn't even doing anything…it just happened on its own. As if it sensed that America was in danger and automatically- If we assume that it had been on America for a long time, then…maybe it was England…when we…_

…

_"Sigh, what a nuisance!" said England as the monster walked closer._

_There was a sudden flash of light, and America said, "I can't move!"_

_"Don't worry, I'll die before it can attack you~" said England, facing them as his body started to glow with a red color. "I'll teleport you back, along with the journal, using what little magic I've got left!"_

_"Wait, you're-" said Germany before being cut off._

_"Please, cut it off!" said England._

_Germany, Italy, and America disappeared in a flash of light as England teleported them back._

…

_England fought to his last breath for the sake of our future selves… _Italy thought sadly.

"Take cover!" England suddenly shouted, running up to America.

"America!" Italy shouted, running behind America.

"It's not working! Hmm… If only I could move- Incarcerous!" England shouted, magic shooting out to the monster.

"Hey, are you okay?" Italy asked the American in front of him. "That thing bit your shoulder, but your glasses flew off. Can you see anything?"

"Ow!" America muttered in response, rubbing his shoulder.

"Good, it's just cracked," said Italy, looking at America's shoulder. "Hmph, if it had bitten it off, that would've been the end of you. I guess you're pretty lucky your bones are still there at least."

"Tch, stop saying stuff like that," America said, annoyed.

"America, you lost this time," said Italy, looking up to England. "So did England and myself."

"Italy, take my little Alfie back to the second floor! You can lecture him later~" England said from his position in front of the monster.

"I have to be saved again?!" America muttered angrily. "Both in the past and the present? Tch, I'm always…"

"Wait, I'm going to fight too!" said Italy, stepping in front of America. "Sorry, but you're going to have to stay here."

"I'm not going to kill it, silly! I'm just buying time!" said England. "If we all tried to run now, my little Alfie would get caught! I'm just buying us time so we can all get out of here together~"

"But England, you don't really think you can fight alone-" Italy started.

"Hmm. In that case, I'll fight with you," said Japan as he jumped down from the ceiling like a ninja, smirking.

"Japan?!" Italy exclaimed, surprised.

"But even though I say that, my strength isn't infinite," said Japan, unsheathing his sword and facing the monster. "Going through all those battles has been a little hard on my body."

"Why thank you!" said England, seemingly unfazed by Japan's drop from the ceiling. "But if you try to argue anymore, you'll get attacked! Just go, quickly!"

"Ugh…" America groaned, obviously in pain.

_Tch, America's already at his limit. I'll have to take care of him both physically and mentally, _thought Italy, looking over at America. _I have to take him back quickly._

"Wait, England, I-" America started weakly.

"Sorry, but I'm going to go now," said Italy, stopping America from saying any more. "I'll definitely come back though."

Italy then dragged America from the room, America struggling all the way.

England sighed when they had gone and said, "Thanks for backing me up!"

"While I was cooking, I dropped the salt I was holding and had a bad feeling. The problem is this enemy. It's completely beyond my powers," said Japan, not taking his eyes off of the monster.

"Yeah, my magic's at its limit too…" England sighed, also watching the monster. "To be honest, I wonder if the two of us can really hold it down~"

"Yeah, it'll be difficult. But defeat means death, which means if we don't defeat it, we'll be annihilated," said Japan.

"Right, so let's do our best to stop it!" England said, ready to attack.

Japan was the first to attack though. He slashed at the monster with a powerful attack, weakening it slightly.

"Let's hold it down for at least five minutes!" said England before he hit the thing with a blast of magic.

"Hai!" said Japan, following England's attack with another sword slash.

England then took out his knives, slashing at the monster repeatedly. Japan also repeatedly slashed it, and after about five minutes, England stopped, noticing it had weakened slightly.

"Ugh…" said Japan, clutching his side where the monster had hit him.

"You all right?" England asked, looking over at Japan.

Japan fell to his knees, wincing and still holding his wound.

"Tch, sorry to fall on my knees right in the middle of a battle," said Japan.

"Oh, did you get hurt? Can you at least try to stand? It's coming!" England said in a rush as the monster started to step forward.

"Hmph, to think I couldn't even hold out for five minutes!" Japan muttered, annoyed at himself, as he tried to get up.

_The enemy is so much stronger! _England thought, trying not to despair. _Perhaps it's because we're in the annexe… Well, at any rate, we're going to be killed!_

Japan suddenly started to laugh, and England looked over at him, pondering whether he should start laughing with him or ask what was wrong. He chose the latter.

"Japan, what's wrong? Why are you laughing?"

"I miss fighting with you like this," Japan said, ending his laugh with a smirk. "I haven't relished this tense feeling for a long time. I can't stop trembling with excitement. Sorry, I don't mean to be on my knees indefinitely," said Japan while getting up. "I was just a bit overwhelmed."

England stayed silent, thinking.

"England?" Japan asked, slightly worried.

"There's something I would like to try~" England said happily, smiling up at the monster. "Not quite sure it'll work, but will you help me?"

"Well, if there's anything I can do, I would be happy to," said Japan, now not worried at all.

"Thanks~" England said.

_Oh, I do hope this works! _England thought.

"Now Japan, give me your hand!" England said, taking Japan's hand. "Legilimens!"

_Japan, can you hear me? _England asked through his mind.

_I can hear you in my mind?! _Japan thought back, slightly panicking now that a madman was in his mind. _…England, what's going on?_

_Sorry if this is a bit sudden, but I pried open your mind and linked it to mine! So in other words, I linked our powers~_

_You mean we share our powers? _Japan asked, freaking out a little less now. _So I can use the same powers as you?_

_Nope! You can't use my techniques, but we can fight by combining our techniques through the link! We'll stay like this until one of us either dies or passes out~_

_Reassuring… So, our individual powers will be stronger? _Japan asked, smirking slightly. _Sounds promising._

_Oh, but we'll also take some of each other's damage! Be prepared for that~_

Japan wanted to punch him in the face for not mentioning that, but instead said aloud, "Fine. Now, let's go!"

"Okay, let's go! I'll lift the spell now!" England said before lifting the spell.

The two of them then attacked, testing out the skill they could use together. It used some of England's magic to stun the thing, then they both attacked at the same time, slashing it in a V shape. The thing roared, finally showing signs of pain, while England and Japan jumped away from the thing, preparing to attack again. Japan was the next to attack, slashing it with power, and England followed behind him. Soon, the monster was weak enough that it couldn't fight anymore.

"Yay! That's enough, so let's run! It's weakened enough that it won't chase us!" England shouted, preparing to run.

"Okay!" said Japan before stopping suddenly. "Wait, America's glasses are-"

"Sorry, but we don't have time! Let's just get away! This is our only chance!" England shouted.

"Fine," said Japan before muttering, "Sorry America."

Japan then followed England in running away from the thing.

…

"Ah, guess this is far enough," sighed Belarus, stopping in the shade of a tree and breathing in the fresh air.

"Belarus, wait up!" Ukraine shouted in annoyance, running to catch up with her sister.

"Oh, pryvitannie, siastra. What are you doing here?" Belarus asked with a warm smile.

"Haha, good thing I followed you!" Hungary said as she ran up to the sisters. "I'm here to help you!"

"Yup," said Liechtenstein as she walked up, rolling her eyes slightly. "Belarus, you're way too fast."

"Oh, thank you for your help! I don't really want to look for my brother, but I don't want him to stay in that mansion either," said Belarus, looking at said mansion.

"Yeah, it is easier looking for him when you're not on your own," huffed Liechtenstein, obviously not wanting to be there. "But it's too late for us to go back now…"

"Well, we can't just sit on our hands and do nothing," Hungary said to Liechtenstein. "And besides, we'd lose our touch."

"Hey, Belarus, that parcel is torn," said Ukraine, pointing to the parcel in Belarus' hands.

"What?" Belarus asked, looking at the package. "Oh, you're right! That's not good!"

"Whatever's inside might fall out," said Hungary. "If only there was a way to fix it."

"Here, you can use my ribbon then," said Liechtenstein, taking the black ribbon from her hair. "I have plenty more, so I don't really care what you do with it."

Liechtenstein then handed the ribbon to Belarus, who tied the ribbon around the package happily.

"There, now you don't have to worry about the thing inside falling out," said Liechtenstein.

"Thank you!" said Belarus happily, hugging Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein quickly pushed her off, grumbling. Suddenly, Belarus said, "Oh, you have a gun!"

"Umm, yeah. I always carry a gun with me," said Liechtenstein, taking the gun from a pocket in her dress.

"Oh, what a nice gun!" said Belarus.

"Uhh, thanks," said Liechtenstein a bit awkwardly.

Belarus hummed happily, not noticing Liechtenstein's awkwardness.

"Oh, by the way, didn't Austria tell you to stay in the tent with your brother?" Belarus asked, looking at Liechtenstein.

"She'll be fine!" said Hungary, looking over at the now-fuming Liechtenstein. "Anyway, the path splits here."

"Yeah, how about we split into two groups," said Ukraine before sighing. "Belarus, you can come with me…"

Belarus smiled and twirled happily, ready to go.

"Okay, so we can meet here again in ten minutes," said Hungary, looking confusedly at the too-happy Belarus. "We haven't fought the enemy yet, so the more of us there are, the better."

"Okay, yay!" said Belarus, watching as Hungary and Liechtenstein walked off.

"Hey, are you worried about them?" Ukraine asked, watching her sister's face.

"Of course I am!" Belarus said, a horrified expression coming over her face. "Why would you even ask that?!"

"Uhh…" Ukraine said awkwardly, trying to think of what to say. "It's good that you've made such nice new friends…"

"Hehe, thanks~!" Belarus giggled, her horrified expression being replaced with an overly cheerful one.

"Umm, anyway, we should be going now," said Ukraine, giving up on figuring her sister out.

"Yay!" said Belarus, happily skipping down the second path.

…

"Ugh, we're back to where we started," said Korea, looking out over the river he and Austria were standing next to.

"Hmm, odd," grunted Austria, also looking over the river. "I thought we were finally on the right track."

"Tch, I guess I shouldn't have trusted you," said Korea with a scowl. "All we did was go in circles and get back to where we started."

"Well, sorry," grumbled Austria, turning away from Korea. "So…let's try this way then."

"Uhh, we just came from that way, babo," said Korea, annoyed.

"Huh, what are you doing?" Switzerland asked as he walked across a bridge. "I thought you two had already left."

"Now, maybe he can help us," Korea said with a pointed look at Austria.

"Umm, are you saying I don't have any sense of direction?" Austria asked, eyebrows raised dangerously.

"Yes, yes I am," Korea said calmly, a smirk on his face.

"You know, it's dangerous to let him lead the way," said Switzerland, trying to break up the fight. "You really should remember that…"

Austria just rolled his eyes and turned away from Korea, still slightly annoyed.

"Hey, where's Liechtenstein?" Austria asked when he didn't see her with Switzerland.

"Oh, she went off to help Belarus and Ukraine find Russia," said Switzerland dismissively.

"I see," said Austria. "So, did Hungary behave herself?"

"Yes, of course. But when she saw all the other female nations running off, she went with them," said Switzerland dismissively, again.

"Hmm, should have expected as much," said Austria with a small smirk. "Oh well."

Suddenly, someone's phone started to ring.

"Oh, it's Germany," said Austria, taking his phone out of his pocket.

"Answer it while we still have a signal!" Switzerland said, eyes wide.

"Yes?" Austria said before listening to the other end. "Ja, everything's going smoothly here. I assume you're all alright?"

_But things aren't going smoothly at all, _Korea thought with a sigh.

"Oh. Is he injured? Is he conscious?"

Before Germany could even answer, a monster appeared out of nowhere and casually walked up to the three nations. Korea looked at it with surprise, as it had just appeared out of thin air.

Switzerland jumped a little before saying, "Good thing I have a gun!"

"Wait, who got injured?" Korea asked suddenly, looking over to Austria.

"Umm, we have company," said Austria, still on the phone. "Could you say that again? Ugh, still couldn't hear you, could you repeat-"

Korea silently watched Austria before saying, "Ib dagchyeo."

When Austria had shut up, Korea disappeared in a flash and struck the monster, making it disappear almost immediately.

"Well done!" said Switzerland in amazement.

"Oh, you're done?" Austria asked, looking up at Korea. "Good. Anyway, it was America who got injured and collapsed, and it seems there will be more and more wounded."

"I see…" said Switzerland sadly.

"We have to find the clocks quickly," said Korea, walking back over to the others.

"Yeah, there are still nine left… Let's hurry," said Austria, walking off.

"Hey, we just told you that's the wrong way," Switzerland said, stopping Austria from going any further. "Why are you being such an idiot…"

Austria turned on his heel, glaring at Switzerland.

"Well, I want to go this way," said Austria through clenched teeth.

Switzerland backed away a step, wishing he had never said anything.

"Well, either way is fine," said Korea, deciding to save Switzerland from Austria's anger. "Let's just go."

"But it's not fine…" muttered Austria, still glaring daggers at Switzerland.

"N-no, it's not…" stuttered Switzerland, looking at the ground.

"Ugh, I _hate _being caught in the middle like this," muttered Korea, trying to find a way to get them to stop arguing.

…

"Oh good," said Italy as England and Japan walked into the room. "I was just about to go get you."

"We couldn't really kill it, but at least we escaped!" England said happily. "How's my little Alfie doing?"

"He's calmed down and is sleeping now," said Italy, pointing to the bed where America was laying.

"I see… Well, guess I'll just have to wait until he gets up to talk to him then~" England said.

"Sorry, I knew America had something in mind. Maybe I pushed him too far…" muttered Italy, looking over to the sleeping American.

"Hm? Why, did you tell him anything?" England asked, looking at Italy's face.

"Well, I told him, 'Maybe you should have learned to smile a little more naturally,'" said Italy.

"Hehe, that's what my little Alfie told you!" giggled England. "So you threw his words right back at him!"

"You really outdid him, Italy," said Japan **(that's what they decided in the video, so…)**.

There was a sudden flash around the magic circle still on the ground, and China shouted, "Japan!"

"Oh, you're back," said Japan, a little surprised.

China started walked towards Japan, and started saying, "Ja-" before he was cut off by France.

"We went through a lot, but we defeated all the monsters. All of them," muttered France. "Nothing has changed in the past…nothing…"

"What about you?" asked Russia.

"My little Alfie got injured and is sleeping now~" said England, pointing over to the beds. "Because of that, we didn't get very far in exploring the annexe! We couldn't kill the enemy, and now I feel like we're under house arrest here…"

"America?" Canada asked, worried about his brother.

"Hey, did you find anything like a piece of paper in the annexe?" asked Russia.

"In the annexe?" wondered Italy. "Oh yeah, I found lots when I was, uhh, running away with America."

"Really? So where are they?" Russia asked, looking at Italy now.

"On that table there," Italy said, motioning to said table.

Russia then walked over to the table, sitting down on a stool near Prussia and Romano and looking over the papers.

"What's wrong China?" Japan asked, walking up to China.

China stayed silent, staring at the ground.

"If you lose your life again, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you…" China finally muttered.

_I see. So in the past, I… _thought Japan, feeling slightly sorry for China.

"Okay, I will keep that in mind," said Japan as England walked over to the kitchen.

Italy's phone started ringing, and he said, "Oh, my phone?" before answering.

"Hey Italy, Lithuania here," said Lithuania on the other side of the line.

"Hmm, it's been a while," said Italy while walking away from the others. "So is everything alright there?"

"Well…I guess you could say it's alright… Anyway, could I talk to Russia?" Lithuania asked.

"What, couldn't you have just called Russia's phone if you wanted to talk to him?" Italy asked, slightly annoyed now.

"Tch, I would've done that if I could've, idiotas, but no one can seem to call him from out here. It's like we can call anyone in the house but him," said Lithuania.

"Weird…" muttered Italy before putting his hand over the speaker and calling, "Russia, Lithuania wants to talk to you!"

When Russia didn't come over to him, Italy rolled his eyes and walked over to him.

"Oh, but I was busy," sighed Russia. "Oh well."

Russia then took the phone out of Italy's hands and said, "Hey Lithuania, what do you want?" Russia listened intently for a few seconds before saying, "Yeah," then, "What, they're gone? Where?" He listened again, then said, "Oh, so they heard about that. But wasn't that a long time ago?" He listened again before saying, "Yeah… Yeah, right, okay. I'll go take a look. Thanks for letting me know. Good luck, and don't die."

With that, Russia hung up the phone and handed it back to Italy with a, "There. Thanks."

"Uhh, no problem," Italy said, taking the phone. "So what happened?"

"Oh, it's fine. My sisters and the others went off on their own, and with the enemy still out there, they could get in trouble," said Russia.

"The others? Oh, you mean the other girls? Why did they leave?" Italy wondered.

"Remember that hole that leads into the house? The one Spain and your brother came through? Well, they heard about that and figured that if they came through it, they'd be able to find me," said Russia.

"What? But isn't that a bit dangerous?" Italy asked, slightly worried about the girls.

"Yeah. I'm a little worried, so I'm going to the basement," said Russia, already getting up from his stool. "I just hope they won't be there, though…"

Russia then walked right out of the room.

"Oi, wait!" Japan shouted, trying to stop Russia, but it was already too late.

Russia then walked quickly all the way to the basement, hoping he could stop his sisters from coming in.

"They shouldn't be here," said Russia when he walked up to where the ladder used to be. "It'd be a problem if they were…"

"Oi, Russia, matte!" said Japan as he ran up to Russia with China.

"Hmm? What's the matter?" Russia asked, completely oblivious.

"You know you're not supposed to go off on your own," China said while rolling his eyes. "And you're so fast!"

"Oh, so you followed me?" Russia asked, turning to look at them.

"Tch, yeah, it would've been pretty dangerous otherwise," said Japan, ignoring Russia's stare.

"Well then…spasibo," said Russia.

"Uhh, so? I don't even know what we're doing here in the first place. What's going on?" China asked.

"Well, my sisters are looking for that hole up there. I have to tell them it's too dangerous to come down here only for my sake, and that there are monsters up there too," said Russia, looking up at the hole.

"Belarus and Ukraine? Hmm, that really is dangerous," said Japan. "But it looks like they haven't found this hole yet, and this place-"

"Russia!" cheered Belarus, interrupting Japan.

"What?" Russia asked, looking up at his sister. "Belarus! Ukraine!"

"Well, I found you," sighed Belarus, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Russia!" Ukraine said, sounding a little happy. "Are you okay?"

Belarus just stood there, watching her brother.

"Hey, why don't you go back?" Russia suggested. "I'm fine here, and, well…"

"Well, brat, I'm coming down there now…" sighed Belarus, not really wanting to. "Oh, and…don't catch me. I'd rather hurt myself…"

"No, Belarus, you can't come here!" said Russia, trying to stop his sister.

"Why not?" Belarus asked with a tilt of her head. "Someone has to save you, so it might as well be me."

"What a weird little sister…" muttered China, completely confused by Belarus' actions.

"No, you have to go home," said Russia.

"But-"

"Just go home Belarus!" Russia shouted.

Belarus sighed, already ready to turn away.

"You can't come down here," said Russia. "I'm fine, so just go home with Ukraine."

Ukraine stayed silent for a moment, not really wanting to take her crazy sister home with her.

"You know Russia, I agree with Belarus," said Ukraine, watching her sister's surprised face. "We can't go home. Vybachte."

"What?!" Russia exclaimed.

"Ukraine…" sighed Belarus, trying to get her sister to give up.

"…You've made new friends Russia…" said Ukraine a bit awkwardly. "So has Belarus."

"Oh…" said Japan, noticing Belarus' want to get out of there.

_Time to read the mood, _thought China with a sigh.

"You don't seem to be hurt too badly, and if you were able to make friends, then you should get out for them. If you could at least promise me that…" muttered Ukraine. "We will both wait for you to get out. We won't go home, but can you at least let us wait for you?"

"Ukraine, you can't just decide that on your-" Belarus started, her voice pleading.

There was a sudden loud noise behind Belarus and Ukraine.

"Gunshots?" Japan wondered.

_There was only one person around who had a gun… _Belarus thought. _Could it be?_

"Oh no! Liechtenstein! What if she got attacked by the enemy?" Belarus said, looking out the opening.

_What should I do? I don't want to save my brat, but I really should… _Belarus thought, sighing. _What should I do?_

"Go help your friend, Belarus," Russia said. "I'll be fine."

Belarus sighed, looking down at her brother, before she turned away to help Liechtenstein.

"I don't really want you to go home. I just want you to be safe and wait for me to get out," Russia said to Ukraine.

"Okay, I'll tell Belarus that," Ukraine said, turning away from the ledge.

"It'll be all right," Japan said to Ukraine's retreating back. "Russia will get out of here just fine. We're all in this together."

"Well…yeah…" muttered China, wanting to say something.

Belarus suddenly ran back inside and said, "Russia, I forget to give you this."

Russia caught what Belarus had thrown down and said, "Oh, a parcel?" He opened the package and said, "Oh, a new scarf! Did you buy this for me?"

"Yeah… Ukraine helped me pick it out…" Belarus muttered. "Let's go Ukraine."

"Right," Ukraine said. "Well, we'll be waiting for you at the exit. Take care."

"Uh, spasibo for the scarf! You take care too!" Russia called before Belarus and Ukraine walked away.

"Hmm, you have a nice family," said Japan as Russia turned around.

"Oh, yeah, I do," Russia said.

"So, shall we go now?" Japan asked, ready to go back to the safe room.

"Yeah, I'm hungry," China said as his stomach growled.

Russia put the scarf on and said, "Oh, it's so warm."

…

Lithuania stopped for a moment and sighed.

"I hope Belarus is alright…" he muttered, looking around.

"Hey, Lithuania!" called Poland as he ran up behind Lithuania. "We're screwed!"

"Hmm? What's wrong Poland?" Lithuania asked, a little worried. "Didn't you find any clocks?"

"Yeah, we did. But the enemy was there too and it ate Latvia!" Poland said, the worry eminent in his voice.

"What?!" Lithuania exclaimed, eyes widening. "Where's Estonia, then?"

"He's in danger," said Poland nonchalantly.

"Then we have to hurry!" said Lithuania, sighing at his "friend's" behavior. "Come on, Poland!"

But before they could leave, Lithuania's cell phone started to ring.

"Ugh, I wonder who that could be," Lithuania wondered before picking up. "Yes?"

"You told my brat, didn't you?" Belarus asked from the other line, sounding a little grateful. "Even though it was none of your business. Well, thank you!"

"Oh, well, umm, you're welcome," said Lithuania.

"And because Russia was there, I was able to help a friend!" Belarus said happily.

Lithuania could hear a gunshot in the background and he said, "A gunshot? Belarus, what's going on?"

"I'm hanging up now!" Belarus said in a rush.

"Ah, wait-" Lithuania started before realizing she had already hung up. "Well, good luck to you too…"

"Come on, Lithuania, we have to go now, or we'll be really screwed," Poland said when he saw Lithuania was done talking.

"Right, let's go then. We have to help them," Lithuania said before running off behind Poland.

…

"Oh, you're back," said Prussia when he saw Russia walk in. "So it looks like everything worked out for you…"

"Yeah," sighed Russia. "But sorry I just ran off like that."

"Wow, the phone again?" Prussia asked when he heard a cell ringing. "The reception's been really good lately…"

"Yeah, it has," muttered Russia. "Hmm, maybe it's Belarus."

Russia walked off into the bathroom before answering.

"What took you so long? What have you been doing?" he asked angrily. "What? Harassed? Tch, just tell me already. Do you want to cooperate with me or not? What the heck? I don't care. Where are you now? We are making progress, aren't we? And why can I hear a voice?"

Canada quietly walked to the door, glad Russia didn't notice him.

"Why would you do that? I can't believe it. I did find it weird. Playing tricks like this…" Russia said, not noticing Canada's presence.

"Umm…" Canada muttered, wondering what Russia was doing. Russia spun around eyes wide, before they turned into a harsh glare.

"Canada… How long have you been there?" Russia asked in a steely calm voice.

"Well…long enough," said Canada, trying his hardest to not stare at the ground.

"Right," said Russia, still glaring at Canada.

"I'll just, umm, go check up on America," Canada said, turning to the door.

_He heard the whole conversation, yet he didn't ask any questions, _Russia thought, slightly confused.

"Oh well…" Russia muttered.

…

"Let's take a short break," said Japan, getting up and stretching.

"I don't know why, but I feel as if this is not over," muttered Italy, still sitting. "Something big is coming… Sorry for being so depressing…"

"I sense some tension between France and England…" muttered Germany. "As though they've shared a secret… But maybe I'm imagining it. I've never seen them so close before."

Japan walked over to France, where France asked, "Hey Japan, how are you?"

"Oh, fine," said Japan dismissively. "What about you? You don't seem too well after you came back from that time loop."

"Oh, that…" muttered France. "I know I've been in a lot of battles, but I don't think I'll ever get used to the death of a fellow nation… I also remember giving my life away to that cheerful Briton right there."

England grinned when he heard that.

"And it feels weird saying this, but…I feel sorry for Italy. He's been through a lot…" said France, looking over at Italy. "And I think he's gotten stronger because of it. And I guess we've all grown closer together, but really, I'm fine. I have hope."

Japan heard France and England discussing something else, but he didn't care to listen in, so he walked over to China to see what he was doing.

"I'm looking after our supplies," said China when Japan walked over. "Don't want to be short any food or water."

"Yeah… We do have to be cautious," said Japan.

"And Japan…" said China, turning away slightly.

"Hai?"

"If you ever die again, like you di in that time loop… I swear, I'll…"

"China…" said Japan, understanding what China wanted to say.

Japan then walked away and went over to Russia, to see who had called him.

"Oh yeah, it was Belarus," said Russia.

"Well, glad to hear she's okay," said Japan.

"Hey, is it just me, or does it feel like the tension among us has risen?" Russia asked, receiving a small glance from Canada. "I don't like this…"

Japan walked away from Russia, slightly confused as to why Russia said that, but he went over to Canada to see how he was.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Canada before muttering a barely audible, "Sorta…"

Japan looked up at America, who was looking at him as if he couldn't see him.

"I can't see…" he muttered, squinting.

"Oh yeah, that's right, your glasses are gone…" muttered Japan.

Japan walked away from America and Canada and back over to the table, where the discussion started again.

"By the way, Spain and Romano aren't here. Where are they?" Japan asked.

"Since we got their weapons fixed, they went back to the past to try them out against the monsters," said Prussia, head on his arms and eyes closed. "And if they get caught by our past selves, they can just lie…"

"Hmm, I didn't even see them go," muttered Japan. "Oh, hey, England, shouldn't you be over by America?"

"Oh, well, every time I approach him, he just pulls the covers over his face and ignores me! Even when I try to thank him! What's he so mad about, anyway?" England asked, looking over to where America was lying.

"Oh yeah, did you know America had a spell on him?" Italy asked.

"I did wonder why you were carrying my magic at first, but when I realized it was a shield, I figured my past self must have done it! And since it was a shield, I just left it at that!" said England.

"So that means Germany and I must have it too," said Italy, looking to Germany.

"Yes, you still have it!" said England. "So if you're ever in danger, it should be able to protect you~ Hehe, magic itself is protecting you!"

"Well, that's reassuring," said Germany.

"So in other words, your magic is protecting us, right? You could take it away from us?" Italy asked.

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Germany asked a little panicky.

"Yeah Italy, if it's protecting you, why would you want to take it away?" mumbled Prussia, yawning.

"England's power is pretty amazing and all, but it hasn't been fully restored has it?" Italy asked, looking at England. "And besides, you used some of it just now. I think you should be saving it. So that's why I was wondering if I could give the magic in me to you."

"But the enemy will go after you first, you know that. It would be better if you had some kind of protection," said Germany.

"Tch, I'll be fine, with or without protection," said Italy.

"Well that's because there's a fairly strong power protecting you!" said England. "It's connected with your healing! If you want me to take it back, fine~ But is that all right with you, Germany?"

"Well, umm, ja…" said Germany.

Italy rolled his eyes and said, "Seriously, I'll be fine. And I'm Germany and Japan will protect me if I do get into danger."

"And what about me, Italy?" Prussia mumbled, still not asleep.

"Hmm… You Axis seem to be getting along well, oui?" France asked with an amused smirk on his face.

"I wouldn't call this getting along…" muttered Germany, looking at his fellow Axis Powers.

"Axis?" Italy asked, trying to remember. "What's that?"

"Umm…" Japan said, wondering if Italy was just joking or if he really didn't remember.

"Hmm… Is it…food, maybe?" Italy asked, eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Err, never mind…" muttered France, feeling a little sorry for Italy.

Everyone stayed silent for a few moments before Japan said, "Oh, Italy, your boot is untied."

"Hmm?" Italy looked down at his boot. "Oh, you're right."

"Here, let me tie it for you," said Germany, grabbing Italy's foot and bringing the boot onto his lap.

"Tch, I can do it myself, idiota," Italy said, trying to yank his boot out of Germany's grasp.

Germany sighed, letting go of the boot.

"Oh, so you know how to tie your own shoes?" France smirked, trying not to laugh.

Italy blushed beet red, looking at the ground.

"I didn't want to rely on that idiota all the time," Italy muttered, not looking up. "So stai zitto!"

"Umm… So, can I have my magic back now?" England asked, trying not to laugh also.

"Yeah, go ahead," said Italy, glad for the topic switch. "I think it'll put America's mind at ease."

"Okay~ I'll take it back now!" England said, spreading his hands over the table and taking his magic back. "Yay, I have it back now! As for him… He's young, so it can't be helped, but with this-"

"Don't even think about it!" America yelled across the room, glaring angrily at England.

"Crap, this isn't good…" muttered Italy before running over to America. "Ehi, America, calm down!"

England stayed silent as he watched Italy run over, and Germany breathed a sigh of relief.

"Uhh, is everything all right, Germany?" Japan asked, also looking over at Italy and America.

"Yeah, just…a bit shaken…" said Germany, turning to watch Italy too.

"I'd completely forgotten about the fact that he has so many memories from here that he's forgotten his past memories…" Japan murmured, a small hint of sadness in his voice.

"I wonder what memories he has left?" wondered France, looking away from Italy to Germany. "Hey, are you all right? Was it that much off a shock to you?"

"They'll probly be gone even if we get outta here…" mumbled Prussia before cracking open one eye. "And don't be like that, bruder…"

"J-ja…" Germany muttered, looking to the ground.

_Hmm… I wonder how America and the others are doing? _Japan thought, still looking over at Italy.

Japan then got up and walked over to Italy, wondering what made America so mad.

"Canada calm down! And America, what were you talking about?" Italy asked, trying to keep them calm.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Canada asked, anger in his voice. "What, did you think I was completely useless or something? Don't you trust me?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying!" said America, frustrated.

"I do wear glasses too, remember? I'm aware that it's something you have to take seriously!" said Canada.

"Gomen, I forgot to grab them…" muttered Japan, looking at America's glasses-free face.

"I'm the one who dropped them, so I'm the one who's going to pick them up," said America. "The enemy's not blind, you know."

Japan had to stop himself from saying, "Yeah, but you are."

"It'll be able to tell they're mine," America continued. "And if it uses them as some pretext to come after me-"

"That's why I said I should go instead of you!" said Canada. "I mean, we're almost identical…sure, our hair color's different, but otherwise, we look pretty similar! And besides, the enemy's probably stupid enough to think that I'm you…and you're injured! If I serve as a decoy-"

"And I said, don't even think about that!" said America. "How many times do I have to lose you?"

"Well, same here!" said Canada, now glaring at America. "You're just horrible! I could try to be like my counterpart, so the enemy wouldn't even see me and leave me alone! But no, you had to go off like an idiot and protect him!"

"Stop fighting!" Italy shouted, anger blazing in his eyes. This quickly silenced Canada and America, who continued to glare at each other. Italy sighed before continuing. "Canada, America died in the past you visited, correct? That's why you're worried for him, isn't it?"

Canada stayed silent, looking at America.

"And you too, America," Italy continued. "This time, and also when you broke a clock, you saw many people die, didn't you?"

"…Yeah…" America muttered.

"A clock?" Japan asked. "You mean the one you and I broke with England in the basement?"

"Yeah," said America. "But back then, I didn't even know those were actual things that happened in the past… So when I saw you, Canada, and England die, I was able to bear it because I was told it was all a lie. But we were all wrong. Those things we saw actually happened. Many of our…friends…had actually lost their lives… And England's magic was a real problem. He'd often exceed his own limits and lose his life because of it. So, before it came to that, I came to you for advice about it."

"What?" Italy asked, a bit confused.

"Yeah, I'd ask you how to stop that magic lunatic, but then the rest of you would lose your lives in the end instead," said America. "I mean, sure, we stopped him from using his magic, but that's not what I wanted."

"You asked for advice?" Italy murmured.

"Whenever we ran into the monster, like this last time, someone would always die. But Iggy, with his strange powers, would be the one to die the most!" America shouted the last part, unaware that England was right there listening. "If I asked you for advice, it'd be you. If I didn't, it'd be England. With only two choices, _I _didn't really have a choice! But since I knew I couldn't choose between you…I figured all I could do was fight alone!"

"Hmm…" England hummed, drawing everyone's surprised attention to him. "Did you ever ask _me _anything?"

"Oh…" said Japan, looking at England in surprise.

"Did you ever _tell _me not to overuse my magic? Did you even once talk to _me _about it?" England asked, a crazy smile plastered onto his face.

"Well, no, but…"

"Then why don't you try it now?" England asked, his crazy smile becoming softer, and more caring.

America stayed silent, watching England's face. Then England cocked his head and said, "I see, so that's what you were thinking~"

England started to walk away, but then stopped and said, "Listen, when my little Alfie wakes up from his "sleep", tell him that he doesn't have to save everyone!"

"Wait, England, what are you going to do?" Italy shouted, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Hmph~ See if I _do _care about you!" England chirped, overly happy. He then disappeared in a flash of magic, making America stumble out of bed and shout, "Iggy!"

"Whoa, what's going on?" France asked, coming over to see what all the commotion was about.

"I don't know!" Italy said, watching as America ran down the stairs and out of the safe room. "He disappeared all of a sudden. I'll go look for them!"

"Okay, calm down. You know you can't go off on your own," said France. "Let's split into groups to look for them."

"Ugh, why now?" moaned Prussia, not wanting to get up but forcing himself to. "Let's go then, bruder…"

"I'll come with you!" said Japan, walking over to Germany and Prussia. "Let's hurry."

"I'll go after America, and I'm going now!" said Italy, already headed to the stairs.

…

"Hehe, I found you~" England said, walking up to the monster. "Terribly sorry, but if I don't kill you now and go back alive, I won't be able to set a good example for my little Alfie! Oh, and while we're at it, you'll have to give back those!"

England pointed to the glasses in the monster's hand, still smiling. Magic then flashed around him.

Italy ran out of the safe place, down to the annexe and into the library room, where he found England battling the monster.

"Sectumsempra!" England yelled, blasting the thing with magic.

_Ugh, even though Japan and I weakened it and Italy gave some more magic to me, how can it still be _so _strong?! _England mentally shouted.

"England!" America yelled, running up to England.

"Oh, you're already here!" chirped England. "Now just sit back and watch how great my powers are!"

_Hmm… If England could kill it, America would have one less thing to worry about. _Italy thought, pondering what to do. _But I have a bad feeling…_

"Ow!" England said as the thing slashed at him. "Well, how about this, then?"

England blasted the thing with magic again, causing it to back away a little.

"Please, stop!" America pleaded, seeing immediately where this was going.

"This will be your end!" England said, magic infusing his words as he pointed to the monster.

"No, England, don't! DON'T DO IT!" America shouted desperately.

Bright flashes of magic filled the room, surrounding the monster and making it disappear.

"It's gone…" Italy muttered, staring in shock at where the monster once stood.

"It can't be true…" muttered America, also staring in shock.

"Well… You defeated it, England," Italy said. "And look America, he's still alive."

"Yeah… I was so scared…" America muttered almost too quietly to be heard.

"Yeah… Now then, since we're here, we might as well look for your glasses," said Italy, looking around the room. "Let's see…"

"Well… I guess now I can see that you really are strong," said America, walking up to England. "You can lecture me later, though I'm not looking forward to it…"

"Yeah…" muttered England.

"Your glasses aren't around here, so I'll just go look in the other room," said Italy, quickly walking to the other room. "Maybe under the table?"

_Well, that's a relief, _thought Italy. _The enemy was killed and England's fine. Now hopefully he and America can make up._

The light suddenly flickered, making Italy flinch a little.

"Whoa, did the light just flicker?"

The light continued to flicker at a regular interval, which made Italy nervous enough to take some knives from his pockets just in case.

"What the heck? This never-"

Italy stopped as the light fully turned off.

"Oh great. Now where's the door…" Italy stumbled to the door before suddenly hearing footsteps. He held his knives in front of him and said, "What? This kind of feels like…"

A monster's face appeared out of the darkness, making Italy flinch and throw a knife at it.

_I thought there was only one? _Italy thought, watching it as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Amer-run!" Italy shouted, hoping it was loud enough for America to hear. "Ahh!"

…

"Hey, Iggy, don't just stand there!" America said, looking around one of the bookshelves. "Help me look for them!"

"England!" said Japan as he ran into the room with Prussia and Germany.

"There you are, problem solved then," Prussia said, already ready to turn back to the door.

"So did you actually kill the enemy all on your own?" Japan asked in amazement.

"That was kinda rash," America said, looking at Japan and Prussia. "But at least we can explore the room without worry now."

"And why is that?" Japan asked.

"Because the enemy that was hanging around here is gone now," said America.

"The enemy?" Japan asked, looking around the room. "How do you know it was the only one?"

"Uh…" said America, suddenly less confident.

"Hey, where's Italy?" asked Germany, looking around the room. "He should have come after you…"

"Oh, he went to look for my glasses in that room," America said, motioning to said room.

The room suddenly shook, making the nations' eyes widen.

"The sound…it came from that room!" Prussia exclaimed, now not ready to leave and heading over to the other room.

"Italy!" Germany shouted, heading to the room behind his brother. Japan followed them also, unsheathing his sword as he went.

"Hey, Iggy, we have to-" America stopped when he saw England, though. "England?"

"Yeah…" England said, not looking up.

"Oh, my Texas, it was right next to you!" America said, walking up and picking his glasses up. "Why didn't you pick them up?"

"What?" England asked, still not looking at America. "Oh, is that so?"

"England?" America asked, looking at England's face. "Wait, don't tell me you…"

"What? Wait, we need to go after Italy first!" said England, backing away from America a little.

"England…"

"What?" England asked as America walked up to him.

_I remember many time loops ago I asked you this same question… _America thought, a little worried at what the answer might be.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" America asked, holding up two fingers. "You can answer, can't you? If you can see."

England just stared blankly and sadly at America, obviously unable to see.

_Please, don't apologize, _America thought. _I don't want to go through that again-_

"Well…" England murmured sadly.

"It can't be…" America muttered, shocked.

England stayed quiet, glancing at the floor he couldn't see again before saying, "I'm sorry my little Alfie… I can no longer…see…"

America stared in shock at England, wishing it wasn't true.

…

"Italy!" Germany yelled, looking down at the unconscious Italy lying on the floor in front of him.

"Here, get out of my way," Prussia said, shouldering his brother out of the way.

"Oh no…" Japan muttered, already able to guess what was wrong.

"P-Prussia… Italy-Is Italy-" Germany started, unable to finish.

_He barely has any wounds, but this complexion… _Prussia thought, looking down at Italy.

"Italy…" Prussia muttered, moving out of the way for his brother.

"Germany, is Italy-" Japan started to ask.

"Italy's heart has…stopped…" Germany muttered, looking down at Italy with wide eyes.

"Italy!" Japan shouted, eyes also widening.

…

"Hmm, perfect!" Spain said, smirking as he looked at the monsters around him. "You ready to fight, Romano?"

Romano suddenly stopped, eyes wide, as he gripped his chest.

"Hey, Romano, what's wrong?" Spain asked.

"Ahh…ugh…ngh…" Romano said, falling to his knees, still gripping his chest.

"Romano, what's wrong? Does your chest hurt? Is it your heart?" Spain asked, shielding Romano from the approaching monsters.

_It can't be! _Romano thought frantically. _Not again, not again! I- Please, stop!_

"It…hurts…" Romano said, wincing.

"Romano! Hold on! Don't stand up! You're going to get killed!" Spain shouted frantically, looking worriedly at his former charge.

"Ve-nezianoo!" Romano yelled with force.

…

_It's so dark… _Italy thought lazily as he looked around himself.

"Wait, what was I doing again? Why am I here? Which way should I go?"

A monster appeared to the right of Italy, and Italy turned to it.

"This way? Are you going to…help me? Can I really go that way?"

A light flashed around Italy as the monster "helped" his thoughts along.

"Yeah, that's right. If I go that way, I'll be able to see my, umm, friends again, right?"

Italy started walking towards the monster, but a voice stopped him.

"No. You're going the wrong way."

"What?" Italy asked, looking around.

"This way, Italy."

"This way… Hey, where are you?"

"Italy, can you make me a wish? I'm small and at a disadvantage. If I grow up a little and am at eye level with you…"

"What?"

"Then I'll be able to come for you."

"I don't understand, but…can you help me? If you can, I'll make that wish. I'll wish for you to grow up!" Italy promised, looking around in the darkness. "And if I do that, I'll be able to go back to my allies, won't I?"

"Yes, I'm sure you will…"

"Listen, are you-"

"Sorry, but first I have to defeat that thing. You can go ahead."

"What? Wait, umm, who are-"

Italy disappeared before he could finish his sentence and soon found himself in a field of flowers.

"Huh? This isn't the mansion, is it?" Italy asked as he looked around himself. "What am I doing here? I have to go back, quickly. Everyone must be worried-"

"Italy!"

Italy turned around to see someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

"You…are…" Italy muttered, in shock.

"I have looked for you, Italy."

"Hol- Holy Roman Empire…" Italy said.

* * *

**A/N: …WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! *is freaking out* I didn't know both England losing his sight AND Italy going into cardiac arrest were in this chapter! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! D'X WHY?! *calms down a little* On a happier note, I got a Hetalia t-shirt yesterday! XD *calmness is gone* BUT THIS IS SOOOOO SAD! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! AND SOOOOO LONG TOO! ! ! ! ! ! 25 pages! 25 STINKING PAGES! WITH OVER 8,000 WORDS! DX WHY DO THEY PROLONG THIS SO?! D'X *ends now before this gets any longer***


	17. Chapter XVII: Disappearance

"Oh…" muttered Italy, still staring at Holy Rome.

"Long time no see, Italy," said Holy Rome with a smirk.

"Yeah… Um, I mean…I…" Italy said, not sure of what to say.

"Italy."

"What?"

"You don't have to talk to me like we're still kids, you know," said Holy Rome, rolling his eyes slightly. "I know everything, you know."

"Well, okay. Long time no see, Holy Roman Empire," said Italy, also with a smirk.

"Yup."

"So…you're all grown up," said Italy.

"That's because you wished so," said Holy Rome.

"What?" Italy asked, confused.

"This is a place where your wishes are fulfilled," said Holy Rome, looking around himself with a smirk. "There was no way I could win against that thing when I was little. That's why I asked you to make me big."

"So it was you who showed me the way just now," said Italy with understanding in his voice.

"Yeah. I was able to repel it somewhat, but not completely. Sorry."

"No, it's fine," said Italy, wanting to get rid of that terrible monster himself. "Umm… This is really weird for me, you being grown up and all…"

"Well, if you want, you can wish me to be little again," said Holy Rome with a frown. "Hmph, you would probably feel more at ease with my younger self."

"No…I mean, this is kind of awkward and all, but… Hmm, how can I put this…?" Italy started. "Umm… I'm glad I can look you in the eyes without having to look down."

"Well, that's good," said Holy Rome.

"So, umm, where exactly are we?" Italy asked, looking around the field.

"Hm? Oh…yeah," Holy Rome said, as if he couldn't tell Italy. "Sorry, but we can't keep them waiting. Let's go back first."

"Hey, who are you talking about?" Italy asked, confused.

"You'll know if you come with me. Let's go," said Holy Rome, starting to walk off.

"Well, okay," said Italy, following.

…

"-ight," Japan was saying, standing in front of the mansion. "So we'll just take a quick look inside and…"

"Japan? Prussia?" Italy asked, walking up to the two.

"Hey Italy…" Prussia said. "I was wondering if something had happened, since you just went off into the forest and all…"

"Umm, what?" Italy asked, extremely confused.

"Is something bothering you?" Japan asked.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," Holy Rome said with a slight smirk. "Italy just thought he had seen something."

"Well if you were there with him, I guess it's fine…" Prussia said.

"Hmph, anyway," said Japan, sounding slightly annoyed as he turned away from Italy and Holy Rome. "I never thought we would actually find it. I thought it was just a rumor."

"It's kinda depressing…" muttered Prussia as he looked up at it.

Italy stared in shock at Japan and Prussia, who had just repeated two of the lines he had heard many times before.

"I don't think it looks very interesting," said Holy Rome with a frown. "Let's just take a quick look and go back already."

"Oh…" Italy muttered.

"Tch, right," Japan muttered, looking up at the mansion. "Shall we go in then?"

Japan and Prussia went in, and Italy said, "Wait-" to try to stop them. But it was already too late, since they had already went in.

"There's no need to hurry, you know," said Holy Rome, casually walking up to the mansion.

"Hey, but…"

Holy Rome turned around and said, "This is like a dream. You control it, and everything will go as you want it to. _That's _why you don't have to worry about them."

Italy stayed silent for a moment, thinking. Then he said, "But I can't _not _worry. I have to go after them."

"Even though this is only a dream?" Holy Rome asked, eyebrows raised.

"No, because it's a dream," said Italy, looking up at the mansion he had come to hate.

"Hmm, I thought you would say that," said Holy Rome, shaking his head.

"Well, we might as well go in now. And you can tell me about the rules in this world," said Italy, walking up to the mansion.

"Well, all right then," said Holy Rome, following Italy.

_As I thought, he adapts quite easily, _Holy Rome thought with a smirk. _I wonder if what he's gone through made him that way? Please figure it out soon._

…

"Tch, how many of these things are there?" Spain asked, panting slightly as he faced another monster, Romano behind him. "Even my strength had limits." Spain turned to the monster, sword pointed at it, and asked, "¿Tú eres el último? Prepare yourself, then, because I'm in a hurry."

Spain swung his sword and slashed the thing right through the middle, making it disappear in a flash.

"Hmph, I won," said Spain before turning to Romano. "Romano! I killed them all."

Romano silently stared at the ground, not answering.

"Romano…" Spain said, walking up to him and crouching in front of him. "Romano, do you recognize me? Can you hear me?"

Romano didn't answer, just continued to stare at the floor blankly.

"Crap!" Spain said, getting up again with a glare. "That idiota Inglaterra probably made that magical circle disappear on purpose, y Romano como este! Just what is going on?"

Romano silently watched the ground, listening to Spain's rant.

"Unless… Something might have happened to idiota Inglaterra, and Italia too…"

The door opened, which made Spain freeze and hope the person didn't come near him, but unfortunately, that didn't happen.

"Hmm? What are you doing here?" England asked, skipping up to Spain and Romano. "You two weren't at the world meeting~"

Spain stayed silent, trying to think of something to say.

"Hmm… Is that you, Kirkland?" Spain asked, hoping it would be his world's England.

"What are you talking about, silly?" England giggled.

_Tch, of _course_ this isn't England from our time loop, _Spain thought angrily. _Crap, this is really bad…_

"Hey, isn't that Romano?" England asked with a tilt of his head, looking at the unmoving Romano.

"…I can't tell you," Spain said, glaring at England.

"Hmm?" England asked, returning the glare with a smile. "But he looks just like-"

"Listen, you have magical powers or whatever, don't you?" Spain asked, not breaking the glare contest. "Can't you give them to us?"

"Hehe, what are you talking about?" England asked, still glaring.

"We…" Spain muttered, thinking of how to phrase it. "We come from the future."

"What?" England asked, actually frowning a little. "I really don't know what you're getting at!"

…

Everyone stood in silence around the bed Italy was in, not quite sure what to do without him.

"So…it's stopped completely?" France asked, breaking the silence.

"Hai…" Japan muttered.

"Terribly sorry, everyone…" England muttered, unseeing eyes looking down. "I should have kept calm…"

"Nah, I was pretty stubborn too," said America.

"So, England is blind and Italy's heart has stopped," Russia summed up, looking between the two incapacitated countries. "It seems there have been a few casualties, hmm?

"Hey Japan, haven't you been through a series of battles?" China asked, looking at the tired-looking Japan. "I can't tell you to sleep, but you should at least sit down."

"Tch, no, I'm not… At any rate, now we…" Japan said, obviously too tired to continue.

"Italy's the only one who can go back in time, ja?" Prussia asked, looking down at Italy. "But I heard something about England being able to do it too…"

"Yeah…" England muttered.

"Now that his magic's practically at zero, he can't do anything. Tch, even if he made up for it with his life, it wouldn't be enough," said America, glancing at England.

"Hmm, you're right…it wouldn't…" England said, still not looking up.

"So we can't go back in time… But we can't just escape without Italy… Right, bruder?" Prussia asked, looking at his brother.

Germany stayed silent, looking down at Italy.

"Bruder…" Prussia muttered, watching his brother.

"What?" Germany asked.

"Were you even listening?" Prussia asked.

"Umm, no…sorry…" Germany mumbled.

"Pull yourself together," said Prussia, rolling his eyes. "This is an important meeting to decide our future. You'll have to bear with it."

"Germany…" Japan muttered, trying to keep Germany's attention on the matter at hand.

"Sorry, I'm fine," said Germany. "I'm not the coward I used to be."

"Oh…" France muttered, looking around the room.

…

England stayed silent, the glare contest momentarily forgotten.

"So, what I'm trying to say is-" Spain started before being interrupted by England.

"You've got to be kidding me~" England said with a laugh.

"¿Qué?" Spain asked.

"So you're saying Italy rewound time? And that you come from the future and want me to send you back?" England asked, laughing more.

"¡Sí! And I think something really bad has happened in our world," Spain said, trying to get him to believe his story. "That's why I want you to share some of your power with the Inglaterra from our world-"

"That's quite enough!" England said, glare contest resuming. "This might just be another past world to you, but to me, this is my world!"

"Oh…" said Spain, obviously not thinking of that, but glaring right back at England.

"And you're telling me to give you my magic or else this world will fall into a time loop?" England asked with a laugh.

"No, I never said it would come to that…" Spain said, still glaring.

"So you're telling me to sacrifice this world?" England asked, glaring more intensely. He then suddenly turned around, headed for the door. "Thanks for telling me how it works~ But we're in a critical situation too! We have no time to worry about you!"

"Inglaterra…" Spain muttered, glaring at the door he had gone through.

"I'll have nothing to do with your world!" England called through the door.

"Well, I guess my explanation was pretty bad…" Spain said bitterly, not knowing what to do now. "I told him everything with hopes that he would send us back, but… There's no guarantee that all the time loops are the same, I guess."

Spain glared dejectedly at the door, trying to think of another plan, when Romano finally spoke.

"S…pain…" he muttered, looking up at Spain.

"Romano!" Spain said, turning to Romano.

"Sorry…something…suddenly…" Romano paused, unable to go on.

"Oye, is your heart okay? Can you breathe alright?" Spain asked.

"I'm… I'm fine~" Romano said. "I don't really get it, but I was in this big empty space and someone helped me get out!"

"Well…can you stand up?" Spain asked, offering Romano his hand.

"Yup~" Romano said, taking Spain's hand and hoisting himself up. That's when he noticed Spain's wounds. "Hey, you're hurt! And what about the monsters?"

"Tch, I killed them all, and all on my own," Spain said, rolling his eyes.

"Spain…" said Romano, thinking.

"Hm? ¿Qué es?" Spain asked.

"I…"

…

"Oh, there you are," France said, walking up to Canada and rolling his eyes. "What's up? We're in the middle of a meeting, you know."

"France…" Canada whispered, turning toward said nation.

"Okay, what's up? You seem down," said France.

Canada paused, looking at the ground.

"I feel completely useless," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Pardon?"

…

"Everyone else has found their own role, and yet I…can't help but wonder what I'm doing…" muttered Romano sadly, looking at the ground.

"Romano…" Spain muttered, not knowing that this was how Romano was feeling.

"Mio fratello has been doing most of the work, and Germania has been doing all he can, even Ighilterra…" Romano murmured sadly. "And yet, what am I doing here? Why did I think of coming here?"

…

"I had absolutely no idea what America was thinking, so I couldn't do anything useful at all," Canada said bitterly, face set in a scowl. "And then… I thought…maybe you don't even need me…"

"So…what? Do you want to be praised by someone or something?" France asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

"What?" Canada asked, confused.

"Do you want someone to tell you what to do and then praise you for doing a good job?" France asked, voice angry. "Tch, if you want to be told what to do, I can think of plenty things for you to do. But if you accomplish them, will that make you happy?"

"No."

…

"That may be the easy way, but it's not quite what I had in mind, I guess~" Romano said with a small smile.

"Huh?" Spain asked.

"Isn't there anything that no one but me can do?" Romano asked, smile disappearing. "As if I were the only one…"

"Right…"

"But…I want to do something for him now!"

"But don't you remember, Romano?" Spain asked, trying to help now. "One of the reasons why Italia's heart became lighter was because you came here for him."

"Si, but he told me not to come."

"Yeah, but aren't you both Italy?" said Spain, sighing before continuing. "It makes me a little worried that you're risking your life and all…but I think it's reassuring that you're here for your hermano."

…

"You solved a lot of problems, oui?" France asked, voice not as angry. "And you didn't do it because someone told you to, oui? It just occurred to you and you opened the path for us."

Canada stared silently at France, waiting for him to go on.

"That's why there will definitely be another time when there's something only you can do, a path that only you can make," said France. "So don't be impatient. I'm pretty sure no one will think you're useless or resent you for it."

"Hmph, something that only I can do, eventually," Canada muttered, smiling a little.

"So I'm telling you, it's okay," said France. "I raised you for a while, so there must be something that only you can do."

"Tch, what does that have to do with anything?" Canada asked, confused.

…

"You've been helping your hermano so much that I'm the one who feels like that," said Spain with a sigh. "And even though I show off sometimes, I do get defeated pretty quickly…"

"Hehe, don't flatter yourself~" Romano laughed.

"Tch, I'm sure there's something that only I can do, too… I guess I must be the most useless of all…"

"Oh, but if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to come here in the first place! You're not completely useless!" Romano said, trying to cheer Spain up.

"Hmm? ¿Qué hicé?" Spain asked.

"Hmm… Well, if it weren't for your wit, we wouldn't have been able to assemble everyone and get them to come here, either!" Romano said.

…

"And even now…" Canada said.

"Quoi?" France asked.

"Tch, if it weren't for your advice, I'd probably be doing something really stupid right now," Canada said with a little laugh. "So I'm really glad you're here right now."

"Hmph, so I was actually of help too, huh?" France asked with a smirk.

"Oui," said Canada, also with a smirk.

"Well, is this proof enough for you then?"

"Quoi?"

"No one is unneeded, and there will definitely come a time when someone is needed for something, like now," said France. "You just need to be patient, you know. Even if you do feel sad."

"'Kay."

"Canada!" America said as he entered the bathroom.

"Whoa! What is it?" Canada asked, looking up at his brother.

"Well, you weren't at the meeting, so I got a little worried and started looking for you… But you were just in here…" muttered America, a little awkwardly.

"Sorry, I just needed to think…" muttered Canada.

"Oh, you were here too, France?" America asked as he walked up to Canada.

"Oui, I was!" France said. "I'm also a member who can't be lost when we make our escape, you know…"

_He never really cares for me, but now… _Canada thought, looking at his brother, a little confused.

"C'mon, let's just go," said America, turning and motioning with his hand for France and Canada to follow. "If you're not there to give your opinions, I might do something reckless again."

_See, it's your turn to shine… _France thought with a smirk, looking at Canada.

_Okay! _Canada thought as he walked out of the room with France and America.

"Huh? What happened to the meeting?" Canada asked as he walked out of the bathroom.

"We weren't getting anywhere, so we're taking a break!" England said as Canada walked over. "Otherwise, the way things were headed, we might've lost our heads~"

"Canada wouldn't…" muttered America.

"Right…" muttered Canada, looking over at his brother.

"Hey Iggy, what're you gonna do about your eyes? You're not going to be like that forever, are you?" America asked, looking over at England.

"Still thinking about it~" England chirped, turning his head towards where he thought America was. "My sight was taken to make up for the fact that I didn't have enough magic, so…"

"What, so it's like a distraint sort of thing?" France asked with a smirk. "Tch, how lame of you."

"I was pretty rash… But now we have to think of a way to save Romano…and Spain!" England said, making it obvious that he didn't really want to save Spain.

"'Scuse me," said China, walking over to the group.

"Yeah?" Canada asked, turning around to face China.

"I have some business to take care of in the annexe, and Russia's coming with me," China said.

"Well, okay, but what are you going to do?" France asked, head tilted.

"He wants to solve a riddle," Russia answered. "If you're worried, you can come along, you know. We don't mind."

"Well, we still have to figure out what to do about Spain," England sighed unhappily, "So you can go on ahead!"

"Duì, we'll be right back then. And maybe we'll find something new," said China before walking off.

"Yeah, I hope so," America said to their retreating backs.

"So, the magical circle is gone," said Canada, looking at the spot where the magical circle had been. "What's up with that?"

"The circle is what connected the past and the present!" said England before adding a little too cheerfully, "If it disappears, one can no longer come back from the past~"

"So what you're saying is that Spain and Romano can't come back from the past?" America asked, putting Spain first to make England mad.

"Yup~" England said. "This means if we don't get them back, they'll stay there for the rest of their lives! Hehe!"

"But you don't have enough magic to even make one new portal…" muttered France.

"Exactly~" England chirped.

…

China left the safe room with Russia following, heading downstairs to the annexe. He stopped at the door that led into the library and said, "This is it."

…

"So if Italy's like this, Romano must be…" Japan said, leaving everyone else to fill in the blank.

"Ja, but he has Spain, so he should be fine," said Prussia. "Man, I wish I had a sword…"

"A sword?" Japan asked.

"Why, do you have a spare?" Prussia asked hopefully.

"Hai, you can borrow it," said Japan, pulling it out from underneath his bed. "But _only _if you promise to take good care of it."

"Yeah, I will," said Prussia, holding out his hand to take the sword. "I'll take good care of it. Especially if it's a sword from your place…"

"Here you go then," said Japan, reluctantly handing over the sword. "My Excalibur, the Poster Sword."

Prussia silently took the sword, wondering why Japan called it Excalibur and the Poster Sword.

"So, umm, just out of curiosity… What if it breaks? What would you do?" Prussia asked.

"Oh, nothing much… I might lose control to the point where I can't tell what's real and what's fake," Japan said nonchalantly.

Prussia's eyes widened, and he looked down at the sword in fear.

"After all, that is a limited edition," Japan said with a smirk at Prussia's reaction.

"Uhh, that's not what I meant… You know what, I don't really want it anymore," Prussia said, holding the sword away from him.

Japan smirked and took it back, holding back a laugh as he returned it to its spot under the bed.

"So, umm, what are we going to do?" Germany asked. "What should we focus on from now on?"

"Well…" said Japan, thinking.

"We haven't decided it… We're at a standstill, remember? Actually, bruder, what do you want to do?" Prussia asked, looking at his brother.

"I…" Germany said, still thinking.

"We have so much to do, but I don't know where to start," said Japan, giving Germany time to think. "So, what should be our priorities?"

"To put it simply, it should be, "To escape," or, "Spain and Romano," right?" Germany said before looking down at Italy. "Italy…is…"

Japan looked sadly down at Italy's face and said, "Italy's face got dirty when he fell. Here, I think I have a handkerchief."

As Japan searched around in his pockets, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and said, "Nani?"

"What is it?" Germany asked.

"Italy?" Japan asked, looking down at Italy again.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Prussia asked, getting a little closer to Italy's bed.

"Italy! Italy!" Japan called, looking down at Italy's face.

"Japan?" Germany asked, a little worried now.

…

Aah… Here we go again…  
Sometimes I can't help but wonder…  
If this story will ever have an end…  
Eh, I guess we'll find out later, won't we?  
Now, as time marches on…  
TO BE CONTINUED…  
…maybe?

* * *

**A/N: Sooooo…I HATED THE ENDING! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! DX I mean, I know the Japanese guy who started never actually finished and all, but…*sigh* I just wish Pianodream and Neo Kyno had maybe made a sequel thingy… Oh well! Ooh, I know! I could make a sequel thingy! So, since this is the end of the actual game, THANK YOU for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! XD And to those of you who only viewed this…thanks to you too! *secretly wishes those who viewed faved, followed, or reviewed too* Anyway, umm, I would love it if you checked out my other stories! And I think that now that I've finished this, I'll update my other stories more, so yay!**


End file.
